Naruto and the Dragon Master
by Dragon Force Ranger
Summary: AU Naruto/Harem, OC/Harem: Naruto's new teacher, Master Dragon, helps him grow in more ways than one and together they must protect the Leaf Village. Begins before the Final rounds of the Chunin Exam. Prototype for next story.
1. Chapter 1: A New Sensei and A New Jutsu

_**Author's Note 1**__**: This is a Harem story. Naruto will have a harem of people you're familiar with and my original character (Master Shark Dragon) will also have a harem made up of some of the older characters in the story. Naruto/Hinata/Kin/Sakura/Ino/Tenten, (others may be added later) and OC/Tsunade/Anko/Hana/Yugito (for now, others will be added later).**_

_**Author's Note 2**__**: I live in the USA, so I'm using the American versions of how people talk, the names of the jutsu and what people are called. Just thought I'd let you that before getting into the story so there is no confusion.**_

**Naruto and the Dragon Master  
**

**Chapter 1: A New Sensei and A New Jutsu**

_**Leaf Village, During the Chunin Exam, Between Parts 2 and 3 of the Examination,**_

Naruto Uzumaki was eating at Ichiraku's Ramen Shop, steaming over the fake that there was still two weeks until the third exam and Pervy Sage was nowhere to be found after teaching him the summoning jutsu. A mysterious dark haired man then entered the Ramen shop and sat down. The dark haired man had light skin, a muscular build to him and blue eyes with a fading scar over his left eye. He looked to about 21 years old and was wearing black pants, a sleeveless red shirt, fingerless leather gloves, leather boots, and had two swords on his back. He was about six and a half feet tall and looked to be about 190 pounds. "What can I do for you?" Teuchi asked the new client.

"An extra large bowl of ramen please." The man said in a calm voice. As he waited for his food he looked over at Naruto who was a little surprised by the tough looking man. "Something on your mind, kid?"

"Yeah, who are you?" Naruto asked curiously.

"My name is Shark Dragon." The man said calmly. "I already know who you are Naruto Uzumaki but I can't say I'm impressed by what I've heard. Especially considering that I knew your father."

Naruto was shocked as no one had ever told him about his parents before. "You knew my father?" He asked in shock.

"More accurately I was one of the two people that trained him." Shark said with a smirk. "I know I don't look that old but I am, it's part of my clans blood line trait, we live a lot longer than most people and retain our youthfulness for a lot longer."

Just then a group of no less than twenty ANBU Black Ops arrived outside the Ramen Shop. "You fellas better be here to just keep an eye on me or there will be trouble." Shark growled as he glared over his shoulder.

"You're to come with us immediately." The lead ANBU said sternly.

Shark smirked and spun around to face them. "You really think that the twenty of you can take me down?" He asked confidently, but not cockily.

Somehow, Naruto could tell that this guy was not someone you messed with unless you wanted to get your ass kicked. _'This is going to be good.'_ Naruto thought as he suppressed a smile.

"Before you guys do anything stupid, you should know that Jiraiya was the one who asked me to come here." Shark informed the ANBU Black Ops. The ANBU leader immediately recognized who they were dealing and backed off. "I see you remember who I am."

The ANBU leader dropped down to the ground and started begging. "Please forgive me for not recognizing you sooner Master Dragon." He begged. The other ANBU realized who they were messing with as well.

"It has been awhile since I've been here so I'll let it slid but make sure you spread the word that I'm back and tell Danzo and those two friends of his that their traitorous days are numbered." Shark said sternly.

"ANBU, pull back!" The leader ordered and the others all did as they were told.

"Hey, how come these guys were so scared of you?" Naruto asked, not knowing who he was talking to.

"Naruto," Teuchi whispered, "this is Shark Dragon the only remaining member of the great Dragon Ninja Clan."

"The Dragon Ninja Clan?" Naruto asked in confusion as he had never heard of that clan. "What's that?"

"The Dragon Ninja Clan was a clan that specifically used Dragon Style Jutsu and was known to be so powerful none of the five great ninja villages would stand against them." Teuchi told him. "In fact, Shark Dragon is the most powerful ninja to ever come out of that clan and is possibly stronger than any of the Hokage has ever been."

Shark laughed. "I'm strong but not that strong. I've just been able to live a lot longer than them and have been able to develop my skills to higher levels." He said with a smile. "I may not look it kid but I'm over fifty years old."

"What? But you look so young!" Naruto shouted.

Shark smiled. "That's because of my clan's Kekkei Genkai. Our blood line trait is that we live longer and retain our youthfulness longer than most people and the more chakra we've got the longer we live and the younger we stay. I'm the only person of my clan to ever have as much chakra as I have." He explained. "I've also been good at surviving things that most people would've died from, so I've just been a bit lucky."

Naruto then had a great idea. "Hey, hey, could you teach me?" He asked excitedly.

Shark smiled at Naruto and put a hand in the kid's hair, messing it up a little more. "That's why Jiraiya asked me to come back, so he could go on a mission." He said happily.

"You mean that the Pervy Sage is on a mission?" Naruto asked in confusion as Shark began eating his Ramen. Shark chocked for a second at hearing what Naruto was calling Jiraiya but quickly recovered from it while still chuckling at it as he definitely agreed.

"Kakashi had originally planned for Jiraiya to train you during the Chunin Exams but didn't know that he was back in the village, so that's why you were given to Ebisu." Shark explained. "You see, your father was the Jonin who Kakashi studied under years ago, so he knew that Jiraiya, the other man that trained your father other than me, would be a good teacher for you."

"Wait, if my father trained Kakashi then why is he giving Sasuke such special treatment?" Naruto asked in anger.

Shark frowned. "Because Sasuke has been pampered and spoiled all his life. Kakashi is trying to undo the damage it caused and teach him that power has to be earned through hard work and dedication, something you already know." He said sternly. "Sasuke thinks that power can be given, mostly because of his Sharingan allowing him to copy Jutsu and since he is so used to people fawning over him because he is an Uchiha. If fact, if Sasuke never learns this, I'd be willing to bet that in about five year, you'll be far stronger than Sasuke ever will be, even without my training."

Naruto smiled but then it went away as he realized how much stronger Sasuke was right now. "Then how come I haven't been able to beat him yet?" Naruto asked.

"That's because you've been wasting your time trying to impress people and haven't really been training all the different ways that you can, like reading up on different Jutsu in the library or asking others to help you learn." Shark scolded him. "You've had days off in-between missions in which you didn't do anything other than the basic training, when you couldn't asked Might Guy to help you with your Taijutsu training, Kurenai Yuhi for training in Genjutsu or even gone to Sarutobi and asked him for a lesson. I'm sure the Hokage would've been more than willing to teach you a thing or two, or let you see what it's like to be Hokage that way you know what to expect one day, since you want to be Hokage yourself."

Naruto realized that he really had been wasting time just goofing off when he could've been getting stronger. "I guess you have a point." He mumbled.

Shark patted Naruto on the back. "Hey, don't worry about it." Shark said with a smile. "Very few people ever think to go ask others to teach them, other than the Sensei they are assigned to that is." He had finished his ramen. "Now, I am going to spend one week training you in a jutsu that your father developed. The week after, we'll still be training but I also want you to spend time learning about your first opponent, Neji Hyuga. That means going to the library and looking up info on the Hyuga clan as well as maybe talking to a Hyuga you know to get information on him."

"Oh you mean I should go talk to Hinata, right?" Naruto asked with a smile thinking of the one person who had always treated him kindly while he was at the academy, other than Iruka who was now like a father-figure to Naruto.

Shark smirked. "You mean the blue haired girl that's outside watching you?" He gestured. Naruto looked and sure enough, Hinata was shyly watching him while trying to remain hidden. "I think she has feelings for you."

Naruto was surprised by this and looked at Shark in confusion. "What do you mean?" He asked.

Shark shook his head in amusement. "Naruto, some people have a hard time admitting that they like someone so they get really shy and timid around that person." He said. "Hell, I had the same problem when I was about your age with a girl that liked me but in the end I got sick of it and asked her to train with me and we got along great. In fact, I've been meaning to look her up and see about hooking up again."

Naruto seemed puzzled but he did like the idea of hanging out with Hinata, after all she was nice and she could help him make a plan to handle Neji. "I'll be right back." Naruto said before heading over to Hinata.

Hinata was nervous as he approached but Naruto smiled at her. "Hey, Hinata, I was wondering if you'd like to come train with me." Naruto said as friendly as he could.

"Oh, uh, Naruto, I, um, well…" Hinata stammered in surprise. It wasn't like Naruto to ask someone like her to train with him. Then again, Neji was his next opponent and Naruto would need all the help he could get to be ready to fight him. "I'd, uh, love to, Naruto." She said with a shy smile.

"Cool!" Naruto said happily. "Let me just go get my new sensei and we can get started." He turned to head towards the Ramen Shop only to find Shark standing outside the shop, waiting for him and Hinata.

"Alright you two, we're going to the Third Training Grounds to begin our training." Shark said with a smile.

Hinata could tell that there was something different about this sensei and nervously followed beside Naruto, occasionally casting a nervous glancing at the new sensei. Soon enough the three of them had reached the training grounds. "Alright, you two before we begin I have a few things I want to make sure of." Shark said as he faced the two Genin. He sat down on the grass and gestured for Hinata and Naruto to do the same, which they did. "Naruto, you know the Shadow Clone Jutsu, am I correct?"

Naruto smiled proudly. "Yeah, it's my best technique." He boasted.

Shark smiled at this. "Good, now do either of you know what the Shadow Clone technique is normal used for and why?" He asked.

Hinata then spoke up. "Well, I heard that it was, uh, normally used for reconnaissance missions because, um, when a clone is dispersed any information it has gathered is then transferred to the original and, if there are others being used, other Shadow Clones." She said.

"That's correct, Hinata." Shark said with a warm smile. "Since this is true, then the same can be said if we were to use Shadow Clones for training."

Naruto was, as usual, having a hard time following what was being said but he got that Shadow Clones could be used to gather information about the enemy and that anything the clones learn would be transferred back to him. "Okay but how does that help with my training?" Naruto asked impatiently.

Shark shook his head in amusement. "Naruto, let's say for example you were to create just one clone and the two of you trained for an entire day together. Once you dispersed the jutsu, you would gain the training experience that the clone had gained. In other words, even though you trained for one day, you actually gained the experience of two days worth of training." Shark said making sure Naruto understood.

Naruto finally got what he was getting at. "Oh I get it! So that way I can train for a week but it will be as if I had trained for much longer than that!" He said excitedly. "So if I make six Shadow Clones and trained with them for a day, it would be the same as training for a week, since there would be seven of me training!"

"That's right." Shark said with a smile. "Now, Naruto, the technique I'm going to be teaching you is one that your father had developed." Naruto immediately sat up straight, giving Shark his undivided attention. "But before you get too excited, there is something I need to make very clear for you about this technique." Hinata seemed a little disappointed that she wouldn't actually be training with Naruto but this was all still very interesting. "This technique is an A-Rank Jutsu and will take time to master, in fact it took your father three years to completely master and perfect this jutsu. But that was mostly because he had missions to go on and other things that cut into his training time. For me and Jiraiya, it took only three weeks of none stop work to master, but that was because we had your father to show us what to do." Naruto seemed to be really interested in this stuff for once since it was about his father. "As I said this is an A-Rank Jutsu, which means that you have to master it _**on your own**_." Shark emphasized on the 'on your own' part to make sure Naruto understood what it meant. "I'll be able to give you pointers and advice but the work is all up to you, and no one else. This is why I talked about the Shadow Clone Jutsu before, it will help you to master the jutsu in far less time it would normally take for you to master it."

"What is this technique?" Naruto asked excitedly.

Shark smiled and held out his right hand. "It's called the Rasengan." He said as a light blue orb of spinning chakra formed in the palm of his hand.

"Wow!" Hinata and Naruto said together as they looked at the jutsu.

"It looks like a small typhoon." Naruto commented at the spinning power of the orb of chakra.

"That's actually a very good observation, Naruto." Shark said with a grin. "Now, I want you to watch closely." He walked up to one of the training posts and then used the technique on the post. "_**Rasengan!**_" He shouted as he used the jutsu on the post, burning a hole into the wooden post.

Naruto and Hinata were speechless as they looked at the destructive power of the jutsu.

"As you can see this jutsu is powerful and not to be used against a comrade from your own village, at least not at full power." Shark said calmly. He pulled out a scroll and summoned a bag full of water balloons. "There are three steps to learning this jutsu so we'll be going over them one at a time. I know these methods might seem to be a little childlike but they are all important." He picked up one of the water balloons and tossed another to Naruto. "Now, watch carefully." Suddenly, the rubber started to get at bumpy as if the water inside was boiling until it finally burst.

"Wow! That was awesome!" Naruto said excitedly as he hopped up to his feet. "So the idea of this step is to spin the water inside the balloon with your chakra until it eventually pops!"

Shark smiled at how quickly Naruto was catching on to this technique. "You guessed it, kid." He said with a smirk. "Only for this step I want you to do it on your own without the help of Shadow Clones." He then turned in attention to Hinata, who was watching and listening with interest. "Hinata, while Naruto is working on this step, I want you to show me what you've got."

Hinata was startled by this. "But, uh, I'm not sure that's a good idea." She said timidly.

Shark sighed. "I need to know what your skill level is at so I can help you get to the next level and beyond." He said calmly. "Besides, if I'm right, your own father doesn't exactly believe in you." Hinata looked up at Shark in surprise that he knew this. "I know Hiashi pretty well and he has always placed too much faith in raw skill and talent. The fact, I'm a little disappointed that he hasn't realized that skill can only get you so far and that hard work is much more important." He then knelt down, put a gentle hand on Hinata's shoulder and looked her in the eyes. "Listen to me, Hinata, you have more potential than you realize and you need to get over what everyone else seems to think about you." He said gently but seriously. "I know that not many people believe in you but what really matters is that you believe in yourself."

Naruto decided to throw in his own two cents. "Besides Hinata, you were able to hold your own against Neji when most people thought you would give up or that you wouldn't last more than a few seconds." He said with a smile.

Hinata looked up at Naruto in surprise that he was praising her skills but then smiled as he had a point. "T-Thank you, Naruto." Hinata said with a shy smile.

A few minutes of waiting, Shark decided to remind his students of why they were there. "Naruto, you need to start you training." Shark said calmly. Naruto snapped out of his daze and went to work trying to pop the water balloon. The water inside the balloon then started spinning to the left, stretching the balloon but now making it pop. "Uh, Naruto, it might be a little easier in you trying spinning the water to the right." Shark said.

Naruto was confused by that. "Why?"

"A person's chakra has a nature cycle to it and by going against it you're just defeating the purpose of this training." Shark explained. "Your spin is to the right so by spinning the water to the left, you're just defeating yourself."

Naruto was intrigued by this. "How do you know which way I'm supposed to spin?"

"By the way your hair grows." Shark said with a smile. "If you hair grows to the right, your chakra spin is to the right. If your hair grows to the left, then your chakra spin is the left."

Naruto seemed a little skeptical but gave it a try and found that it was a lot easier than before. "Hey, it is a lot easier!" He said in excitement.

Shark and Hinata then left Naruto to begin his work on the jutsu. "Alright, Hinata, I want you to show me how good you are at the Gentle Fist, just don't use any chakra." Shark said as he got into a fighting stance very similar to the Hyuga style of Taijutsu. Hinata nodded and sank into the fight stance. The two began sparring with each other, Shark being much more skilled than Hinata, but going easy on her so he could test her skills.

After about an hour and a couple of rounds of sparring, Shark had a good idea of what level Hinata's skills were at. "I can see what your problem is, Hinata." He said as they were taking a break. "You're a lot more flexible than most of the Gentle Fist users, that's why you have such a hard time using it." Hinata seemed surprised at how much sense that made, as she was starting to suspect the same thing herself. "If we're going to improve your skills, we'll need to alter your form of the Gentle Fist to take advantage of that natural flexibility that you have."

_**Three hours later,**_

It was getting close to dinner time now as they were all still training. Shark and Hinata were starting to make progress in developing Hinata's own style of the Gentle Fist while Naruto was still working on the first step of his training and seemed to not be making much progress. "Hinata, take a little break while I go and see how Naruto is doing." Shark said to which Hinata agreed.

Naruto was spinning the water in the balloon and was starting to get really frustrate. "What the hell am I doing wrong?" He yelled angrily.

Shark smiled as he had been making the same mistake Naruto was making when he had first learned the jutsu. "How about another demonstration?" He offered, which Naruto was really grateful for. Shark picked up a spare water balloon. "Now watch the water balloon very closely."

Naruto watched intently and saw that the edges were getting bumpy until it finally burst. "Hey, how come my balloon isn't getting bumpy like yours?" He asked.

Shark smiled. "Sorry, Naruto, but you need to figure that one out on your own if you want to master this jutsu but you're on the right track if you keep that in mind." He said.

Naruto thought about it and then got a crazy idea. "Hey, I've got an idea!" He said happily. Shark watched as Naruto switched the water balloon to his left hand and focused the chakra into his right. He began tapping the water balloon at different points making the water spin around in different directions. Eventually, the balloon finally burst. "I did it!" Naruto celebrated.

Shark smiled and congratulated Naruto. "Good job, kid, now I want you to practice it for a while to make sure you've got the hand of it." He said, to which Naruto happily agreed. _'It's only the first day and Naruto has already mastered the first step. Though it's not exactly what I was looking for but it still works and that's all that really matters in the end.'_ Shark thought as he watched Naruto practice. _'If this keeps up, he just might be able to master the Rasengan faster than ever before.'_ After another thirty minutes, Shark decided that it was getting late and decided to call it a night and resume their training in the morning.

Naruto was a little upset but didn't argue too much since he was a little tired from the amount of chakra he had used during the day. Hinata was relieved as she was pretty tired from their work out from the day. Shark just smiled as he watched his two newest students leaving while talking about their different training. _'Those two would definitely make a good team.'_ He thought to himself. _'I wonder why Sarutobi didn't team them together.'_ He then smiled at the thought of visiting his old friend and what his reaction would be. "Might as well see what the old man is up to." Shark said out loud before heading into the village.

_**Meanwhile, in the Rocky Training Area,**_

Kakashi Hatake wasn't in a good mood, to say the least. First, he was ordered by the Hokage's advisors, Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane, to privately train Sasuke for the Chunin Finals when Kakashi had already decided to work with Naruto and was going to have Might Guy help Sasuke with his Taijutsu skills. That had caused him to ask Ebisu to help Naruto with his chakra control since he couldn't find Master Jiraiya anywhere.

Second, while Kakashi had been practicing his Chidori, since he thought Sasuke was still recovering in the hospital, Sasuke had arrived and was stealing the jutsu using his Sharingan. When Kakashi ordered him to forget what he saw and to never use it, Sasuke just smirked arrogantly and said that Kakashi was going to teach him that technique or the advisors would be hearing about his refusal to teach him. This remark had surprised Kakashi as he had thought Sasuke was much more humble than that only to realize that Sasuke must've been deceiving him and everyone else into thinking that to get what he wanted: training from the only other Sharingan user, Kakashi Hatake.

Third, even though he had warned Sasuke what could happen if he pushed it, the arrogant idiot used too much of his chakra and was suffering from chakra exhaustion, which was allowing the Curse Seal to act up again. Luckily, Kakashi's seal was keeping it from getting out of control but if Sasuke kept his attitude up, then there were going to have to be some serious changes. Right now he was praying to God above that Gaara didn't killed Sasuke during their match, not that Kakashi would mind seeing the brat be easily beaten by the psycho from the Sand, but then the civilian side of the Leaf Village Council would have his hid.

'_I wish Master Dragon was here…'_ Kakashi thought to himself as he looked to the heavens. _'He'd know just how to put Uchiha in his place.'_ Little did Kakashi know but Master Dragon was in the Leaf Village at that very moment.

_**A few minutes later, at the Hokage Mansion,**_

Hiruzen Sarutobi was still hard at work denying the ridiculous requests from the Leaf Village Civilian Council. "You really should do something about those bastards on the Civilian Council." A surprisingly familiar voice said from the window. Sarutobi turned to see the very first and best friend of Jiraiya, Shark Dragon, smiling at him.

"I wondered when you'd finally return Shark." Sarutobi said with a warm smile. He was happy that he had returned since that meant that Orochimaru was in for a real surprise. "Come in." He gestured to a seat. The complete seriousness in his voice told Shark that it wasn't a request. "We have a lot that we need to discuss."

Shark nodded and entered the room, closing the window behind him.

**To Be Continued…**


	2. Chapter 2: Sides Change and Training

_**Author's Note 1**__**: Just warning you that this story has a few questionable and mature scenes in it. Also, there will be points in later chapters that I speed things up a bit. Just thought I'd giving you guys and gals a heads up.**_

_**Author's Note 2**__**: I'm not the most patient of writers and I lose interest in my stories occasionally. I'm trying to prioritize my stories on how many people review them, so they more reviews I get the more I'll work on it because it means that there are people that like the story. Tell me what you like, tell what you hate, or just tell me some of your suggestions that might help with the story.**_

**Naruto and the Dragon Master**

**Chapter 2: Sides Change and Training Continues**

_**That evening, Sand Ninja Apartment, in the Leaf Village,**_

The Sand Shinobi Siblings were silently eating their dinner together while Jaki was eating on his own. Jaki, brother of Baki, who was their original sensei, may be their current sensei but it was not because he wanted to train them, he was just trying to get a more powerful spot in the city. Jaki looked and dressed a lot like Baki but he covered the right side of his face, not the left, and had blue tattoos on the sides of his face, instead of red. His most recent plan involved getting Temari to be his, by either seduction or rape. He had tried to seduce Temari but she refused all of his advances and had even gotten Kankuro into helping stop them since Jaki couldn't take a hint. Jaki had then changed his tactics to getting Temari alone and raping her. The first time he actually tried this, he would have succeeded had it not been for the intervention of Gaara, using his sand to attack Jaki.

Gaara never admitted it but he cared about Temari and Kankuro because they never tried to hurt him and always showed him kindness. The only times he ever usually threatens them is when the Shukaku is acting up or when they are in public so no one would suspect that he cared about them. Even after the Shukaku managed to get loss that one time, Temari and Kankuro always tried to show Gaara a kinder side even though he could tell that they were scared of him at times. Occasionally, Gaara would subtly tell Temari to sleep in his room as Jaki had something planned. Tonight was one of those nights. "Temari," Gaara said as he headed for his room, "try not to make too much noise when you come to bed tonight." This was Gaara's way of say, _'You better sleep in my room tonight. The pervert is up to something.'_ No one ever argued because Gaara was always right and he would hurt them if they did.

"Yes, Gaara," Temari said nervously, not about sleeping in the room with Gaara but whatever it was that Jaki was planning.

_**Over at the Ichiraku Noodle Shop,**_

Naruto and Hinata were enjoying a meal together as they quietly discussed their training. "I still can't believe that I was able to master the first step after only one day of training." Naruto said with a smile.

"Yeah, but, uh, you know that there are two more steps in the training, and I'm sure that they are much more difficult." Hinata said shyly. She was also surprised how much easier her training was when they started. "I wonder why the training seems so much easier than I expected." Hinata wondered out loud.

"Yeah, but sensei did say that he would be working with us for two weeks so he could be taking it easy on us right now since we won't have much time to use in recovering from the training." Naruto suggested with a shrug.

The two agreed and smiled at each other. Hinata was already starting to get over her nervousness around Naruto, even if it was just a little bit at a time. They then finished eating their meals and Naruto was walking Hinata home when they passed a seemingly abandoned building but they could hear people inside it. "You stupid slut!" A familiar voice shouted followed by a loud *SLAP*. "Not only did you provide no help in our attack on Sasuke but you also lost to that pathetic Shikamaru Nara!" Naruto realized that it was that guy named Zaku, the one who had his arms injured by Sasuke and then fought and lost against Shino.

Naruto and Hinata could hear a muffled cry coming from inside the building and it was obvious the person was in pain. "You should've paid more attention during our training, Kin." Another familiar voice said tauntingly. It was that mummified weirdo, Dosu, the only one of the Sound Ninja that managed to get to the final rounds of the Chunin Exams. "But don't worry by the time we're through with you, you'll learn not to slack in your training or to underestimate your opponents. That is if Lord Orochimaru decides that you're still of any use, he may just kill you and be through with it."

Naruto recognized the name and knew that the Hokage would definitely need any information they could provide. Even if the guys weren't willing to talk, their victim might be willing to answer a few questions. "Hinata…" Naruto was about to say something more but saw that Hinata had activated her Byakugan and was looking inside.

"There are only three of them inside the building with one being tied up while the other two are standing in front of her." Hinata said. "I don't see anyone else inside the building so I think we can handle them."

"Alright then," Naruto said with a smile as he placed crossed his two index fingers and middle fingers to use his best jutsu. _**"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"**_ A bunch of clones appeared in front of the building. "Surround the building so they don't escape." He told the clones, which immediately did as they were ordered.

Once the clones were in place, Naruto and Hinata rushed into the building, catching the Sound Ninja by surprise. Hinata easily took down Dosu with her Gentle Fist Technique while Naruto beat the crap out of Zaku. Naruto stopped when he heard a moan of pain and what he saw was disgusting. Kin Tsuchi was tied up with her arms being held over her head and legs held apart, in an X shape. She was completely naked, not one piece of clothing was on her body, but her body was black and blue from the fresh bruises and there was some red from cuts that had been made. Normally, at seeing a naked beautiful woman, Naruto would've probably fainted, or at least gotten a nose bleed, but, seeing how hurt she was and how much pain she was in, he found himself feeling sorry for her.

Kin was shocked that two other ninjas would help her but thought that it was just because she had just been making too much noise and they wanted to join in. She couldn't see them because they were staying in the shadows. She watched as one of the ninjas started to approach and was pulling out a kunai from his ninja tool pouch. She figured this person had a thing for cutting people up and closed her eyes, waiting for the pain that was sure to come.

Only it never came.

Instead, the kunai cut the ropes that were holding her arms apart and she felt as someone caught her body before she hit to the ground. Kin opened her eyes to find that Naruto was cutting her loose and then he was putting his jacket around her naked body. "You're safe now, Kin." Naruto said as gently as possible as he gently picked her up in his arms.

Kin nodded in surprise and leaned closer into Naruto's chest. "Thank you…" She murmured before passing out.

Naruto knew that he would need help. "Hinata, go get Sakura and bring her to my place, tell her what happened here." He said sternly.

Hinata nodded before the two of them split up and headed off to different areas of the village. Naruto made his way back to his apartment where he put Kin in his bed and gentle tucked her into his bed.

_**Meanwhile, at the Haruno Residents,**_

Sakura Haruno was worried and for good reason. Sasuke was missing from his hospital room and she had no idea where he was training to make sure he was okay and not in the hands of Orochimaru. While she cared about Sasuke, she was starting to wonder if that was a good idea and she knew she wasn't the only one in that respects. Ino had also noticed a change in Sasuke's attitude after receiving the Heaven Curse Mark from Orochimaru. The two old friends had decided that they wouldn't fight anymore until they figured out what was going on.

*THUMP!* *THUMP!* *THUMP!* A loud knocking brought Sakura from her thoughts and back to reality. She made her way to the door and opened it. "Hinata?" she said since she was surprised to find Hinata was the one that was at the door. "What are you doing here?"

"Sakura, there's an emergency." Hinata said before coming inside and quickly telling Sakura what she and Naruto had found.

Sakura's skin visibly paled at what she heard but she had never been more proud of Naruto than she was at that very moment. "I'll get some things." Sakura said dashing up to her room. She quickly grabbed some medical supplies and clothing that she guessed would fit Kin.

A few minutes later, Sakura and Hinata were rushing over to Naruto's apartment. _'I hope Kin is alright.'_ Sakura thought. _'I may not like the girl for attacking us while we were in the forest but that was all part of the exam and this was much worse than anything that happened in the forest.'_

The two kunoichi soon arrived at Naruto's Apartment and were greeted by Naruto who looked really worried. "Thanks for coming, Sakura." He said before leading her to his room and left her and Hinata to get to work. He then and an idea and used the Shadow Clone Jutsu to create a copy. "Go get old man Hokage and tell him that we might have a lead on the snake he's looking for." He told the clone, who nodded and headed out to get the Hokage.

_**Meanwhile, at the Hokage Mansion,**_

Shark Dragon shook his head at his old friend and teacher. "You really are in some deep shit this time, Sarutobi." He said sadly. "The Civilian Council is trying to stick their nose in things that don't concern them and your so-called advisors are doing nothing more than just helping them."

"Yes, and I'm getting too old to lead the village out of these sort of situations." Sarutobi admitted. "This village needs a strong leader and I'd like that to be you."

Shark sighed and scratched the back of his head, knowing this was coming. "Sorry but I'm not the man for the job, at least not at this time." He admitted. "I've got no patience for politics and would most likely kill too many people that pissed me off. No, if you want a replacement I suggest you ask Kakashi, Jiraiya or Tsunade to do the job."

"Hmm, I agree with you that Kakashi could do the job but Jiraiya is…well…" Sarutobi said.

Shark laughed at the thought of what his best friend would do if he was in charge of the village. "Yeah, Jiraiya would probably make peepholes legal just so he could look at women in the bathhouses and hot springs." He said with a chuckle.

The Hokage couldn't help but agree with that statement. "Yes, now Tsunade would be perfect for the job but there is also the matter about her not being here and us not knowing where she is." Sarutobi sighed. "Not to mention, I doubt she'll return even if we could find her. Since her little brother and a previous lover died, she hasn't been very keen on returning to the village."

The last of the Dragon Clan smiled at this. "Oh, I'm sure I could find her and convince her to return. I have missed her." He said with a smile that made Sarutobi laugh.

"Yes, I almost forgot how close you and Tsunade were all those years ago." The Hokage said with a smile, causing Shark to blush slightly but he quickly covered it up. He was about to say something more when he sensed someone coming and looked at the door.

Just then, Naruto came bursting in. "Hey old man we've got a situation!" He said before a couple of Jonin grabbed him.

Sarutobi could tell that Naruto had something important to tell him. "Let him go!" He ordered and the Jonin jumped as the harshness of the Hokage's voice.

Shark and Sarutobi looked at Naruto waiting for an explanation. "What's going on kid?" Shark asked.

"Oh, hey, sensei," Naruto was surprised to find Dragon-Sensei talking to the third Hokage but quickly shook it off. "I found a lead on a certain snake that you're looking for."

The Hokage and Shark were both shocked by this statement and looked at each other as they stood up. "Naruto, where is this lead?" Sarutobi asked.

"She's being treated by Sakura and Hinata back at my place." Naruto said calmly. "She was pretty beat up when Hinata and I found her."

Shark didn't like that and knew there was more to the story than that. "Alright, I'm going there to make sure she's kept safe." Shark said.

The Hokage nodded. "I'll meet you there once I've rounded up Ibiki Morino, Inoichi Yamanaka and a few medical ninja." Sarutobi said sternly.

"I'll let the original know." The Shadow Clone dispersed much to the amusement of Shark and amazement of Sarutobi.

"Kid learned about that just today and is already using it for his own benefit." Shark chuckled. He then got serious and headed out.

_**At Naruto's Apartment,**_

Naruto immediately gained the information from his Shadow Clone and smiled that his new Sensei was on his way. He went into the bedroom to find Hinata and Sakura had finished doing what they could for Kin and were letting her relax. "My new Sensei is on his way and so is the old man." Naruto informed the two kunoichi.

Hinata nodded in understanding while Sakura was a little confused about who Naruto was talking about. Before she could ask, there was a knock on the door. "Byakugan!" Hinata said causing the veins on the sides of her eyes to bulge out and become visible. "It's him."

Naruto smiled and went to the door. "Hey, Dragon-Sensei, that didn't take very long." He said happily as Shark Dragon entered the apartment.

"You know, you can just call me Shark, kid." Shark said with a grin as he entered the bed room and saw Sakura and Hinata kneeling by the bed that had Kin in it. "What's the verdict, Hinata?"

"She has massive bruising all over her body and some old injuries that haven't properly healed." Hinata reported which horrified Shark.

Sakura was shocked to find that Naruto's new sensei was none other than the legendary Shark Dragon, the Dragon Master. "Naruto, do you realize who this is you're talking to?" She asked in shock. Naruto looked confused so she went on. "This is Shark Dragon! His power rivals that of the legendary Sannin and he trained the Fourth Hokage!"

Naruto smiled. "He also trained my father!" He said proudly.

Shark looked at Naruto and Sakura as they were talking. "I take you two are on the same squad?" He asked.

"Yup!" Naruto said happily.

"Yes sir." Sakura said calmly.

Shark then put in finger to his chin as if thinking something over. "Naruto, once we're done here, I think you should talk to the Hokage about who your father was." He said calmly.

Soon enough, the Third Hokage arrived with Ibiki Morino and Inoichi Yamanaka, as well as a two Medical Ninjas. The medical core members immediately went to the bed and began checking out the injuries that Kin had. "I take it the girl is the one that might have the leads for us?" Sarutobi asked Naruto calmly.

"Yeah, Hinata and I found her being beaten and almost raped by Zoku and Dosu." Naruto reported.

Ibiki was shocked by this because he had seen the teams and remembered who was on them during the Chunin Exams. _'Her own teammates did this to her…'_ He thought sadly. _'Looks like things are worse than we first thought if the Sound Village is in league with Orochimaru.'_

Kin could hear people talking as she slowly started to feel her strength returning. She opened her eyes a bit to see two Medical Ninja tending to her wounds while Naruto, Hinata, Sakura, the old man Hokage, Ibiki and two others Kin didn't know stood around talking. "We need to begin questioning her involvement with Orochimaru immediately after she awakens." Ibiki said sternly.

'_So that's why everyone is here, they want information on Orochimaru.'_ Kin thought to herself. _'Well, it's not like I owe those bastards anything. The least I can do is through a major monkey wrench in his plans.'_ She opened her eyes all the way so everyone knew she was awake. "Orochimaru is the leader of the Sound Village." Kin said out loud.

"What?" Ibiki asked in shock. Everyone had suspected that the Sound was allied with Orochimaru but they never expected that Orochimaru was the founder and leader of the Sound Village.

Kin glared at him as she painfully sat up. "You heard me." She growled as the medics tried to help her with the pain. "Orochimaru is the founder and leader of the Sound Village. He also uses the different members of the village in his experiments, especially those that disappoint him, questions his orders or tried to disobey him."

"This is far worse than we thought." Inoichi said calmly.

"Oh, it gets better." Kin said with a grin. "The Sand and Sound are planning to attack during the finals of the Chunin Exam while the Uchiha brat and Sand Jinchuriki, Gaara, were fighting."

The adults in the room were horrified by that information. "Wait, Gaara has a demon spirit sealed inside of him like me?" Naruto asked out loud in shock.

Kin, Sakura and Hinata all looked at Naruto in shock but Kin quickly recovered. "Yes but I didn't know you were one as well." Kin said with a smirk. "No wonder you were able to go toe-to-toe with Orochimaru for a while." The adults were a little surprised but didn't find it hard to believe as they knew what Naruto had sealed inside him.

Naruto blushed a bit at the praise. Hinata looked at Naruto for a bit but easily brushed it off as she had suspected that something was up from the way people looked at Naruto and acted around him. She didn't care, she loved Naruto and something that was beyond his control was not going to change that. Sakura looked at Naruto for a while and found that she realized that some things were starting to make sense. _'No wonder Naruto's been able to recover so quickly and berserk in the forest when he got angry.'_ Sakura thought. _'But he seems more likeable than anything I'd read about demons, especially compared to Sasuke's recent attitude change. I'll see what Ino and some of the others know about this before asking Naruto for more info about it.'_

"Naruto, you shouldn't talk about such things in front of other people who don't know what you're talking about." Sarutobi said sternly.

Naruto dropped his head realizing he had just revealed something top secret to Hinata, Sakura and Kin. "Sorry…" He mumbled.

Hinata, Kin and Sakura could tell that Naruto thought they would hate him after learning the truth. "That doesn't change how we feel about you Naruto." Sakura said with a gentle smile. Hinata nodded.

"Hey, you saved me from a fate worse than death; I doubt a demon would've done something like that." Kin said with a smile at Naruto, who blushed. The former Sound Ninja turned to Ibiki and Inoichi. "Now, I believe you wanted to know everything I know about the invasion plans?" She asked.

The two interrogators nodded and Kin began telling them everything she knew about the invasion. "I'm not sure how but Orochimaru plans to assassinate the old man while the rest of the village is being destroyed." She reported. "He had four bodyguards that are very good at barrier jutsu. One of their favorites for battles is the Four Flames Formation."

Shark recognized that jutsu. "Ah, that one huh?" he asked curiously. "That would be pretty tricky to get around if they put on barriers on the inside and outside but not impossible. In fact I know of a jutsu or two that could easily get around it as well as one that could destroy it."

"Which jutsu are they?" Ibiki asked immediately.

"The Dragon Style: Dragon Fire Crossbow Jutsu and the Fourth Hokage's teleportation jutsu, both of which I have mastered and can use effectively," Shark answered calmly.

Ibiki, Inoichi and Sarutobi were not surprised by the Dragon Style Jutsu but there were shocked that Shark knew the legendary jutsu of the Fourth Hokage, which was what led to the Fourth Hokage's nickname "the Yellow Flash of the Leaf". "How do you know that teleportation jutsu?" The Hokage asked calmly, already suspecting the answer that was to come.

"The Fourth Hokage was in the process of teaching it to me before he died but I took me a lot longer than that to master it." Shark said calmly. "However, I'm not sure it would be a good idea to use that jutsu at this time. It would make our enemies a little jumpy and they might try to help Orochimaru complete his plan for destroying the Leaf."

The adults all agreed while the Genin were all confused by this statement but remained quiet. "Naruto, pack up your things." Shark ordered. "You and Kin are moving in with me at the former Namikaze Residents."

"Namikaze…?" Naruto asked trying to remember why that named sounded so familiar. "Wait! Namikaze is the last name of the Fourth Hokage!"

Shark smirked at Naruto. "Of course, I'm the one who sealed up the area so no one could try to steal his secret jutsu scrolls and possessions." He said with a smile. "The Fourth Hokage requested that I do that in his Will. He made me the guardian of his home and library, while he left his fortune in the care of Sarutobi."

Sarutobi sighed regretfully, knowing full well what Shark was going to be doing. "Unfortunately, those greedy bastards in the Civilian Council managed to steal a large portion of Minato's money." The Hokage said regretfully. "I was unable to trace it back to the source but I have my suspicions." Ibiki and Inoichi were both steaming mad at this.

"Just tell us who you think it was and we'll get the truth from them." Ibiki said. Ibiki felt that the entire village owed the Fourth Hokage for saving the village from the Nine Tailed Fox but, to hear someone had stolen from the deceased Hokage was unforgivable.

"No, I'm afraid we can't do that as it will be most difficult to convince the other members of the Civilian Council to stay out of other people's business." Sarutobi said calmly. "I was however able to get keep a much larger portion of his money set aside so there was no need to worry about it."

Shark nodded as Naruto packed up his things. "Make sure you don't leave anything behind that you might need, Naruto." Shark said calmly.

Naruto opened a hidden compartment in his room a pulled out a plan old box. "These are some of my most prized possessions." Naruto replied to a questioning look from Shark. "They were the only gifts I've received from people on my birthday and for Christmas."

Shark was surprised by this but smiled at his student as Naruto probably never got much on his birthdays or on Christmas, so it made sense that whatever he did get would be really important to him. "Why do you have them hidden, Naruto?" Sakura asked.

Naruto got sad at this question. "Because the last time I left them out, someone broke into my apartment and destroyed them." He said sadly.

Sarutobi remembered that day very well, it was the one time Sarutobi had wished he had never become Hokage so he could deal with the situation personally. A five year old Naruto had come to him crying about how someone destroyed his most prize possessions, a few toys and stuffed animals he had gotten on his birthdays and Christmas. That was the last straw for Sarutobi, who was sick of people trying to hurt the boy that had, technically, helped saved the village from the Nine-Tailed Fox. He ordered the ANBU Black Ops to track down whoever did it and bring them to him. It was one of the council members so Sarutobi decided to make an example of that person as well as having Naruto's place under ANBU surveillance twenty-four-seven with orders to apprehend anyone that tried to break in and to put them in a cell for Ibiki and Anko to interrogate. Jiraiya had been told of the situation and wanted to come back so he could protect Naruto from those bigots. He didn't care about Orochimaru or his spy network, as he was Naruto's godfather. No one would dare piss of one of the legendary Sannin but Sarutobi convinced Jiraiya to let him handle it.

Sakura and Hinata were touched by Naruto's care for those things while Kin was pissed that someone had hurt Naruto, a person kind enough to save her life even though she had attacked him team during the Chunin Exam. Once Naruto was packed up, Shark used a jutsu to send the items inside the house. "Naruto and Kin will be staying with me in the Namikaze house until further notice." Shark told Sarutobi, who nodded in agreement. He pulled out a kunai that had a tag wrapped around the handle. "Here, Hinata." Shark tossed the kunai to the Hyuga Heir, who easily caught it. "That will allow you to get into the mansion but only you came use it." He explained. "There is a seal based security system around the property that keeps anyone from entering unless they have a specially made kunai. The moment you touched that kunai it became your personal pass into the mansion that only you can use. We'll be doing our training there from now on so make sure you're there by 9 in the morning."

"Yes sir." Hinata said shyly.

Shark turned to Naruto and Kin. "Sorry you two but this is the only way I can transport both you of there." He said become making a hand sign. The three of them then disappeared from the room.

_**Over at the Namikaze Mansion,**_

The Namikaze Mansion was pretty big but not so big that it could be called a compound. It was surrounded by a large brick wall, had a large areas out front and out back to practice jutsu or for just hanging out with friends. Inside were bedrooms, a large kitchen, and a library and study area for reading up on jutsu. There was also a weapons room that had thousands of kunai, shuriken and other weapons that ninja use.

Naruto, Kin and Shark appeared in one of the guest bedrooms with Kin landing on the bed, Shark landing gracefully on his feet and Naruto landing flat on his butt. "Ow!" Naruto complained as he rubbed his butt.

Shark helped Naruto up off the floor. "Sorry Naruto, but like I said it was the only way to transport both of you here." He said with a grin. "Kin, you should get some sleep." The girl just nodded and settled into the bed she had landed on. "Naruto, I've got something I need to talk to you about before showing you to your room." Naruto was confused by followed Shark has he left Kin's room.

_**The next morning, Namikaze Mansion,**_

Naruto was silently eating his morning breakfast as he thought over what Shark had told him the night before. Their conversation was playing back in his head. _"I know this isn't going to be easy for you to hear, kid, but its best you hear it from me and not someone else." Shark said as he pulled out a picture. "This is a family portrait of Minato Namikaze and his family that was taken around thirteen years ago."_

_Naruto took the picture and sure enough the Fourth Hokage was in it standing next to a beautiful red headed woman. "So who is the lady?" Naruto asked curiously._

"_The woman is his wife, Kushina." Shark explained. "Look closely at where Kushina's hands are."_

_Naruto looked closely and saw that they were on her stomach which seemed to be bulging out. "So the woman gained some weight?" Naruto asked._

_Shark chuckled and shook his head. "Naruto, she is pregnant in this photo." He said._

_Naruto was shocked by that as no one knew that the Fourth Hokage had children. "But why isn't there a Namikaze in my age group?" He asked._

_Shark sighed. "To protect the child from his father's enemies, the Third Hokage decided to give the child his mother's last name until he was old enough to protect himself." He explained. "Kushina's last name was Uzumaki."_

_Naruto realized that it was his last name. "You…you mean that I'm…" He couldn't finish his sentence._

"_Yeah, Naruto, you are the son Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage." Shark said sternly. "I want you to sleep on it and we'll talk more in the morning, okay?"_

Naruto was stunned but also proud that he finally knew who his parents were and was also happy that he could now talk to someone who knew them personally. He just needed more time for it to process. Shark had taken Kin some breakfast since she was too weak to get out of bed for the time being.

"I'm here if you want to talk about it?" Shark said as he sat down across from Naruto.

"Why?" Naruto asked.

Shark was confused by the question. "Why what?"

"Why did my own father seal the Nine-Tailed Fox inside of me?" asked Naruto angrily.

Sighing, Shark decided it would be best to answer honestly. "You see, Naruto, there were two Jinchuriki before you. Both of them were from the Uzumaki clan. In fact the first Jinchuriki was the wife of the First Hokage." Shark explained as best he could. "The Uzumaki Clan originally came from the Village Hidden in the Whirlpools and was well known for being Sealing Masters, which led to their village being destroyed. Some of them were born with a strong and a special kind of chakra. Your mother was one of those people so she was made the second host of the Nine-Tailed Fox."

Naruto was shocked: his own mother had been the previous host of the Nine-Tailed Fox. "My father knew this?" He asked.

"Minato was there when it was sealed in her and supported her the entire time." Shark smiled. "One thing that you should know is that when your mother gave birth to you, she was weakened and the Nine-Tailed Fox was trying to get out. Someone helped it escape and sent it on a rampage towards the Leaf Village. Your father realized that your mother was too weak for the Fox to be put back in her, so he was forced to use the only Uzumaki in the entire village: you." Shark had to stop as it was painful to take about. "It nearly destroyed your parents to make such a decision but they did what they had to, to protect you and the village. They both sacrificed their lives to ensure the seal would be strong enough to hold until you were strong enough to one day take control of the Nine-Tailed Fox."

Naruto was shocked but proud that his parents trusted him enough with such a responsibility. "Is that why you and the Pervy Sage are training me?" He asked.

Shark smiled as the kid was starting to get it. "Yes, we also believe that one day you can do it but that day is still years off so right now you need to focus on the Jutsu I'm teaching you." He said. "Oh, and you are not to tell anyone about who your father is or that this jutsu was created by your father. You can tell Hinata and others that are your age that you trust but don't go screaming it for everyone to hear."

Naruto nodded seriously and finished eating his breakfast. "Let's get started!" He said excitedly as the two went outside.

_**An hour later, in the backyard of the Namikaze Mansion,**_

Hinata had joined Naruto and Shark for their training and Shark explained everything to her as well and she promised to keep it a secret. "Alright, Naruto, I want you to show me what you master yesterday." Shark said as he tossed Naruto a water balloon.

Naruto caught it with his left hand and began tapping it with chakra from his right until it eventually burst. "There ya go." Naruto said proudly.

"Good, now I want you to create six Shadow Clones for the next step." Naruto was about to do but Shark stopped him. "After, I explain it." Naruto blushed a little sheepishly as Hinata giggled a little. Shark pulled out two rubble balls, tossing one to Naruto. "Now, watch this." Shark held the ball in his hand and it began stretching and spinning from the inside out until it burst apart. "This one is a lot tough than a water balloon." Shark explained. "The first step was about rotation, this step is about power."

Naruto tried it himself and found that it was harder that before. "This is a lot tougher." He commented.

"Now, I'm going to warn you, this step is a lot more exhausting and using Shadow Clones will make you even more exhausted, so I only want you to make six Shadow Clones so it will be like you've trained for a week instead of one day. You need to _**focus**_ the _**power**_ of your Chakra into the ball." He emphasized on focus and power which Naruto immediately picked up on. Shark then summoned a bag of rubber balls for Naruto to use. "Alright, I'll leave you to it." Shark then went off with Hinata to practice her style of the Gentle Fist.

Naruto created six Shadow Clones and they all began working to make their rubber balls burst. At lunch time, Shark had Naruto break the Jutsu so they could eat. Naruto did that and a second later, he nearly passed out from the exhaustion of the training. Shark caught him before he fell over. "Like I said, you'll get really tired from this." He said with a smile at Naruto. After lunch, Naruto tried again and found that he was able to put more power into the rubber ball but not make it burst just yet.

_**The Next Day,**_

Hinata and Shark were still working on Hinata's own style of the Gentle Fist while Kin was watching from the porch. Naruto was still working on the second step of the jutsu and was resting once again from working on the jutsu. His chakra network was working in overtime trying to master the jutsu but Naruto wasn't about to give up. _'Dammit, what am I doing wrong?'_ He thought to himself. _'Maybe I should try putting in as much power into the jutsu as I can.'_ He got up and picked up one of the balls. He started pouring as much power into the ball as he could. _'A little more…a little more…'_ He thought as he poured in his chakra. _'That's it!'_ He got to the point he wanted and began tapping the ball to make the chakra spin inside it. The chakra was working so hard to come out that the ball finally sprung a leak. "Finally…" Naruto said.

"Good work." Shark said as he walked up to Naruto.

"Yeah but I just got it to spring a leak and not burst." Naruto complained.

"My, aren't you awfully picky all of a sudden." Shark smirked. "Hey, it took me and Jiraiya most of the time we were learning the jutsu to do that." He said with a smile.

Naruto smiled. "Let me see your hand." Shark said as he pulled out a brush with some ink on it. Naruto held out his right hand. Shark drew a small leaf symbol in the center of Naruto's right palm.

"Huh, what's this for?" Naruto asked in confusion.

Shark took off his right glove and showed Naruto that he had the same thing on the palm of his right hand. "This is to help you focus the chakra in the ball." Shark explained. He pulled out a blank piece of paper. "Give this a look." Naruto looked it over but was confused.

"Okay…" Naruto said being annoyed.

Shark turned the paper back to himself and drew on it. "Alright, give it a second look." He said showing the paper to Naruto again, whose eyes were instantly drawn to the tiny left symbol that was in the center of the page. "Now, where are your eyes being drawn to?" Shark asked calmly. Naruto didn't answer right away. "Are they being drawn to the point in the middle?"

"Yeah!" Naruto exclaimed.

"You see without a target to focus on, it can be pretty difficult for you to focus all your power into a sphere." Shark explained.

"So this is a target for me to focus on while I'm trying to get the ball to burst?" Naruto asked and Shark nodded in confirmation.

"Now give it a shot." Shark suggested. "And remember to focus on that one point."

Naruto picked up a rubber ball, held in it his left hand, closed his eyes and concentrated on the leaf symbol on his right hand. The image clearly appeared in his mind and he was able to focus his chakra on the symbol of his home. _'Now!'_ thought Naruto before starting to tap the rubber ball at almost blinding speed.

The ball started to glow from the amount of chakra Naruto was using. The chakra was so powerful that it ball didn't just burst:_** *BOOM!***_ it exploded and burned his hands. The blast sent Naruto flying backwards but Shark stopped him before he hit anything.

'_Damn, the kid used so much that he burned his own hands!'_ Shark thought. "Good work, Naruto. You've got the second step down. And much faster than I expected I might add."

Naruto looked at him. "Awesome." He then passed out from exhaustion. Kin and Hinata were surprised by the explosion but were relieved that Naruto was alright.

"Is Naruto alright?" Kin asked worriedly.

"He just needs some rest." Shark told the two girls. Kin and Hinata had become pretty good friends during their short time together and Kin was starting to really care about Naruto.

"What a relief." Hinata said with a sigh.

"I'm sure he'll be up and ready for more training tomorrow morning." Shark said with a smile.

_**The following morning,**_

Just as Shark had predicted, Naruto was up the next morning, ready to continue his training. Shark had him practicing the second step until he got the hang of it without being thrown backwards by the explosion. Naruto was actually created fifteen Shadow Clones to practice the first step of the jutsu but using only one hand, he wanted to truly master his jutsu without his short cuts, while he worked on the second step. By lunch time, Naruto had the second step down to the point where he could control the amount of chakra without having to worry about being sent flying backwards. He dispelled the jutsu and nearly collapsed from the mental fatigue from the training but it wasn't as bad as before since Naruto was starting to get used to it.

"Alright, Naruto, the final step is probably the most difficult to master but it is also the least tiring, if you allow yourself to rest properly." Shark said calmly as he tossed Naruto a balloon. "Now, watch closely." He held a balloon in his right hand.

Naruto looked closely but nothing was happening. "What am I supposed to be watching?" He asked in frustration after a few minutes.

Shark held up his left hand and formed a Rasengan. "This is what's happening in my right hand." He said with a smile.

Naruto was shocked by this. _'That's awesome.'_ He thought. _'There's more of a spin to it than the first step and way more power than the second.'_ Naruto looked at the balloon in his hand. "So the idea is to have the spin and power of the first two steps but not letting it pop a delicate balloon?" Naruto asked.

"You guessed it." Shark said with a smile.

"But why is this step so important?" Naruto asked curiously.

Shark smiled as he walked up to a nearby wooden training post, he had set up four of those wooden posts for training purposes. "After the first to steps, you get this." He created the chakra in his palm and drove it into the pole. A spiral form, like a whirlpool, was cut into the post. "Once you've mastered the third step, you get this." He created a perfect Rasengan in his palm and drove it into the wooden post. The energy ball ripped through the wood, cutting a deep indent into the wood.

"Wow." Naruto said excitedly.

Shark walked over to Naruto and took the normal balloons from him. "Now, before you do this, I want you to try the first step, using only your right hand." He said calmly. "This is just to see how you've progressed thanks to your clones, so don't worry if you don't get it."

Naruto smiled as he picked up a water balloon. "You got it!" He said excitedly as he concentrated and tried to get the water balloon to burst with just his right hand. The water started spinning within the water balloon but, instead of stretching like before, this time it was bubbling, as if the water inside the balloon was boiling. It was just like how Shark had demonstrated to him. The water balloon the burst. "Heh, I did it!" Naruto celebrated happily.

Shark smiled at Naruto. _'Amazing, I never expected him to be able to master the normal way so quickly…'_ He thought as Kin and Hinata congratulated Naruto. _'But then again, he is the Leaf Village's Number One Hyperactive, Knuckle-Headed Ninja.'_ He then walked over to Naruto. "Alright kid, now I want you to work on final step."

"You got it!" Naruto said happily.

_**Four Days Later,**_

Naruto was sitting at in a chair as Shark applied Medical Ninjutsu to the injuries that Naruto had gain from training. They were mostly burn marks from the explosion of chakra from failed attempts to master the Rasengan. Over the last four days, Naruto had mastered using only one hand to burst the water balloon and rubber ball. Right now, he was trying to contain that power but it wasn't going too well for him, even when he tried using his two handed trick. He could concentrate the chakra into a ball but after couldn't compress it enough to keep if from blowing up the balloon. However, thanks to the Shadow Clone Jutsu, he was slowly starting to make progress, not to mention Kin and Hinata encouraging him not to give up. Kin and Hinata were currently out with Sakura and Ino, shopping for new clothes for Kin to wear since she was no longer a member of the Sound Village.

"Man, why is it so hard?" Naruto asked in frustration. He had been working his butt off on the jutsu as well as studying more chakra control but it felt like he wasn't getting anywhere.

Shark chuckled. "Hey kid, remember you're a lot young than I was when I learned this technique." He said with a smile. "You're still learning to control your chakra, which usually takes years to learn. I'm actually surprised that you've mastered the first two steps as quickly as you have, with as few clones as I've been having you use. It took Jiraiya one week for each step while it took me two weeks to master the final step."

Naruto was shocked. "You mean you also had a problem compressing the chakra in a ball?" He asked.

Shark smirked and nodded. "Yeah, I used to be all about power and wasn't too big on the whole need for control." He chuckled. "But I finally started working on controlling my power and found that I could do a lot more than I ever thought possible."

Naruto sighed but understood what Shark was getting at but it was still frustrating. "It's like trying to carry a huge rock all alone." He complained.

Shark raised an eyebrow. "I see." He stood up from his seat and walked forward. "But…_**Shadow Clone Jutsu!**_" He created a single clone next to him. "…if you use the Shadow Clone Jutsu, you can create a second person to help you share to work load."

Naruto looked at his sensei and he smiled. "That's it!" Naruto shouted excitedly as he got a crazy idea. Shark was a bit surprised by Naruto's attitude but allowed him to get to work on trying his new idea, not really knowing what to expect since Naruto was pretty unpredictable.

_**A half hour later, at the Entrance to the Namikaze Residents,**_

Kin, Hinata, Sakura and Ino had all returned to the Namikaze Residents with bags full of clothing, ninja gear and other things that Kin might need now that she was a part of the Leaf Village. "Thanks for all your help, Sakura, Ino." Kin said with a warm smile. She was now sporting shoulder length hair, wearing black pants, Ninja shoes and a green camouflage tank top that had a red Leaf Village symbol on the chest. "I've never really been able to go shopping like that before and it was fun."

"Hey, it was fun helping you pick out clothes that match your new lease on life, Kin." Sakura said warmly.

"Yeah, anytime you want to go shopping again just let us know." Ino said with a smile. She loved shopping as much as the next person and was always willing to help out her friends with getting new clothes.

The four entered the Namikaze Residence. Naruto had provided Sakura and Ino keys to the estate since he felt he could trust them, along with Shikamaru, Choji, Shino and Kiba, as Naruto knew that he could trust them enough not to try to steal from him. They could hear Naruto celebrating. "Sounds like Naruto finally mastered the jutsu he was working on." Hinata said with a smile.

The girls went out back to find Naruto happily jumping around a post that had a hole burned into it. "I finally did it!" He celebrated.

Shark stood off to the side smiling at Naruto. "Nicely done, kid, though I must admit your method is really unique." He said as the girls came into view. "Oh, I see you girls are finally back." They had been gone for four hours doing nothing but girl stuff, but Shark knew that they would most likely be gone for that long, if not longer, since he had a bit of experience with girls doing things like that.

"So, did Naruto finally master the Rasengan?" Hinata asked with a smile.

"Rasengan?" Ino and Sakura asked in surprise. They had both heard of that technique being created by the Fourth Hokage and being an A-Rank Jutsu. It took a lot of work and a master level of control over Chakra to master an A-Rank jutsu, so the fact that Naruto had mastered it, was impressive.

"Yeah, I figured out a trick to help me with the Rasengan." Naruto said with a smile. Before the girls could ask, Naruto decided to demonstrate. _**"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"**_ he created a single Shadow Clone and held out his right hand. The clone began channeling the chakra and spinning it while the original focused on keeping the chakra spinning while also compressing it.

"I get it!" Sakura said excitedly. "While the clone works to gather the chakra and make it spin, Naruto is focusing all his effort on maintaining the spin and keeping it in a ball! It's amazing!"

"It's genius!" Hinata said excitedly as she watched.

"Awesome work, Naruto!" said an equally excited Ino.

Kin smiled at her savior. "Now all he has to do is win the Chunin Exam Tournament, which should be a piece of cake compared to learning that jutsu, right, Naruto." She joked.

Naruto and the others looked at her for second before laughing at her joke. "Yeah and all I need do is defeat Neji, the genius of the Hyuga, in the first round and then face either Sasuke, the last of the _'Great Uchiha'_, or Gaara, the demon of the desert." Naruto joked. He exaggerated Great Uchiha because that was what all of the Civilian Council and a number of the elders thought of Sasuke while the Ninja Council and a good number of the other Ninjas were starting to see him as being the village's pampered jerk that thought he was better and stronger than everyone else, just because he was an Uchiha. "That should be easy enough to do." He laughed. The others chuckled at it while Shark just smiled at his student, thinking about other things he'll need to do while he trained Naruto.

**To Be Continued…**

_**Final Note: This chapter is being posted much sooner than most of the others will be because I feel that it is done. I may go back and change a few things in it later but for now it's ready.**_


	3. Chapter 3: Secrets and Truths Revealed

_**Author's Note**__**: I'm planning ahead right now and I'm trying to decide what to do with a key point in the future. I'm setting up a poll to see who you would like to win between Itachi and Sasuke. I'm letting you know this far in advance so you can make up your mind as the story progresses.**_

**Naruto and the Dragon Master**

**Chapter 3: Secrets and Truths Revealed**

_**A few moments later, at the Namikaze Residents**_

Shark smiled at his student and pulled out a scroll. "Naruto, seeing as you've mastered the Jutsu in your own way, I've decided to give you a gift that should give you an advantage over Neji and the others." He explained as he rolled the scroll out on the ground in front of him. He activated one of the symbols and a sword appeared in a puff of smoke. "This is the Chakra Sword. It was once owned by a member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen." The sword looked very much like the Dragon Sword from the video game _Naruto Shippuden: Dragon Sword_. The orb in the sword near the hilt is clear. "This sword is also called the Chakra Storage Sword because it stores the owner's chakra in the orb." Shark explained as he indicated the orb near the hilt. "The chakra is stored there and came be used to power the sword's attacks or reabsorbed by the owner to replenish their chakra supply. The color of the orb is based on the owner's chakra."

Naruto and the girls were all impressed. "Wow…" They all said as Shark handed the sword to Naruto who cautiously took it.

"Hold the hilt and focus your chakra into your palm, the sword will do the rest." Shark instructed.

Naruto did as he was told and could feel his chakra gently being sucked into the sword until he didn't feel a thing. The orb in the sword had turned into a light blue color. "What all did that do?" He asked.

Shark smiled. "It basically locked the sword into being able to constantly extract small amounts of chakra from you when you're not using your chakra." He explained. "It won't take very much, around 0.5%, but it adds up overtime."

"That's awesome!" Naruto shouted happily.

"Oh it gets better." Shark grinned. Naruto and the girls were all ears for more details. "You see, if you use the blade to block an enemy's jutsu, the sword will absorb the chakra that is in that jutsu and store it for you to use against the enemy." The girls were all speechless while Naruto was excited about learning how to use the sword. "I will train you in how to use it but you are not to use it unless absolutely necessary." Shark warned.

"What? Why's that?" Naruto asked angrily.

Shark sighed. "Naruto, if the Village Hidden in the Mist found out that you have that sword, they'd try to take it back by any means necessary. There's also the fake that the Civilian Council would try to force you to give the sword to Sasuke as it would definitely be of help to him in his quest for revenge." He said sternly. "Now the Leaf Village could easily handle to Mist Village by explaining that the sword was taken from the previous owner after he was defeated in battle and, therefore, is now your property, but the Civilian Council would stop at nothing to get their hands on that sword."

Naruto completely understood Shark's reasoning. "I understand sensei." He said. "I promise not to use the sword unless nothing else seems to work. I'll even use some of my red chakra first."

Shark nodded, as Jiraiya had mentioned it to him before, while the girls seemed a little confused but didn't ask any questions. "That's a good call, kid." Shark said calmly. "Now, as we've got about a week or so before the third round of the Chunin Exam, I'll be teaching you more Chakra control as well as how to use the sword's power."

"Alright!" Naruto celebrated happily.

"However," Shark interrupted, "you will be doing nothing but resting the day before the tournament." Naruto was a little disappointed but didn't argue at all. Shark then turned his attention to the girls. "Kin, you'll remain here from now on. No going out of the house, as we can't afford your former teammates capturing you again." He instructed. Kin nodded as she had no intention of leaving until after the tournament, and the invasion, was over. "Hinata, you can keep coming here for training since you'll be able to help Naruto plan for his fight with Neji." Hinata nodded and had a little blush, knowing that Naruto would need all the help he could get against Neji. "Ino, Sakura, you two are welcome to visit but you are not to speak of anything you see here. No one is to be told about this training or that I'm the one training Naruto, until after the Chunin Tournament. Do I make myself clear?" He glared at the girls, releasing a little Killing Intent, to make sure they understood the importance of keeping their mouths shut.

"Yes sir," the two girls said nervously. They knew he was just making sure they understood but were still a little scared at the idea of doing something that might make the legendary Dragon Master angry with them. They had both heard stories about the awesome power of Master Dragon from different battles in the last Great Ninja War.

_**That Night, at the Leaf Village Weekly Council Meeting,**_

The Council meeting was going as it had done for years now, the Civilian-side trying to stick its nose in Ninja business and the Ninja-side trying to not kill them. They were all sitting at a rectangular table that stretch in the middle of the room, with one of the ends facing the door. The Civilians were on the right side of the table while the Ninja were on the left with the Hokage sitting in the middle of the Ninja with an empty seat on both side of him. There were eight Civilian Council Members sitting on the right side, which included the Hokage's so-called advisors seated on the opposite side of the Hokage. Their names were Tomi Haruno, Okane, Kazai, Akogi, Yoku, and Ryoku. The Ninja side was made up of the Heads of the Ninja Clans so there were ten seats, three of which were empty: the ones on the sides of the Hokage and the one closest to the door, which had the Uchiha symbol on it.

The Civilians Council Members were trying to get their hands on the land and resources that were used to train the next generation. Sarutobi was getting sick of all of this and finally decided to call it to an end. "If you say one more thing about taking the land and resources we need to train future ninja, I'll sick Shark Dragon on you!" He shouted angrily.

The Ninja Council Members smiled at the news that Shark Dragon was back in the village, while the Civilians all shut up and paled. "You…you mean he's back?" Tomi Haruno asked. She was Sakura Haruno's aunt and was one of the wealthiest civilian women in the village but was always trying to get more money and power for herself. She was also called the Village Banshee because she would scream at people to make sure she could get her way.

"Yes he's back and he's not too happy with what I've told him about this council and has promised to look into it when he gets the chance." Sarutobi said with an evil grin that sent chills down the civilians' spines.

Homura cleared his throat. "Well, since he has finally returned I suggest we have him unlock the Namikaze Residents so we can see what might be useful to Sasuke Uchiha's development." He said.

The Ninja Council members glared at him. "Hell will freeze over before Shark does that!" Tsume Inuzuka shouted. "You know as well as we do that the Uchiha broke their Clan Pact with the Namikaze Clan years ago, and therefore have no claim to anything the Namikaze Clan created!"

The next person to speak up was a shock to everyone as he usually slept through these meetings: Shikaku Nara. "I agree with Tsume and we all know that Shark would never allow the Uchiha to get their hands on the Namikaze's scrolls no matter what we did. He'd more likely destroy the scrolls than let Sasuke have them." He said calmly.

The Civilians were not happy about that. "Shark Dragon has no claim to the possessions of Minato Namikaze!" Okane shouted. He was a fat man that owned most of the village's maintenance department but was a coward that tried to use his wealth to get his way. "And what does it matter if the Uchiha broke their Clan Pact." The ninja were all upset at this and caused the man to cower in fear. Clan Pacts were agreements made by the Clan Heads to better the relationships between the different clans in the Leaf Village. Breaking one was considered the highest insult to all of the Ninja Council members.

"Okane has a point." Kazai said. She was a snobby businesswoman who ran a number of businesses within the village and was constantly trying to waste the village's manpower by having ninja as personal bodyguards for the Civilian Council members. "The Pact was broken years before Itachi destroyed the clan so that should count as a punishment and allow the Uchiha Clan to reinstate their alliance with the Namikaze Clan."

"Like that'll ever happen!" A new voice bellowed. Everyone turned to see Shark Dragon standing in the doorway.

All of the Civilian Council members jumped out of their seats and started yelling at him. "Get out of here!" Tomi Haruno shrieked causing some of the ninja to rub their sensitive ears. "You have no business interrupting a Council Meeting like this!"

Shark ignored her and sat down in an empty chair near on the left side of the Hokage. "It seems you've forgotten that I'm the Head of the Dragon Clan and have a seat on this council, you arrogant idiots." He growled.

"He's correct." Hiashi Hyuga said calmly. "Even though you all tried to remove his seat, the Ninja Council stopped you in your tracks when we threatened to remove the Uchiha Clan from the council as well."

The Civilians were all upset at being reminded of their failure to remove the Dragon Clan of its power in the village, as well as nearly costing Sasuke Uchiha some of his clan's remaining power. Shark took his seat at the council table and glared at the Civilians. "I'm only going to say this once: Get out!" He growled releasing so much Killing Intent, that even Hiruzen Sarutobi fidgeted in his seat as he was also a little scared. "The civilian business is hereby over with. All that remains is Ninja Business, and none of it has anything to do with you."

The Civilian Council knew better than to argue with Shark Dragon, especially since they were all terrified of the amount of Killing Intent he was releasing. It was so thick that they would probably dent a kunai with it. The Civilian Council members, pretending to be reluctant, left the room without another word to anyone. Once the door was closed, the table automatically changed to being a round table so everyone to see each other. The Ninja Council members, ignoring the changes since they were used to it, all applauded Shark on who easily he handled the civilian council. "Thank God you're back, Master Dragon." Tsume said happily. "I don't know how much more of that I could stand."

The other Heads of Clans agreed. "I do what I can." Shark said with a smile.

"So what brings you here tonight, my friend?" Hiashi asked with a smile hoping inside that Shark didn't know about how he was treating his eldest daughter.

"I have a few things that I need to discuss with you all here." Shark said calmly as he pulled out a storage scroll and opened it. He pressed a symbol and a large contract scroll appeared. It had the symbol of the Inuzuka Clan on it.

"But that's…" Tsume started to say but was too stunned to finish. "Where did you find that?"

Shark smiled as he slid the scroll over to the Head of the Inuzuka Clan. "I heard rumors about someone claiming to have the scroll and decided to look into it." He explained. "I can assure you all that were involved in the theft have been found and dealt with, Tsume."

Tsume bowed her head as she held the scroll close to her like it was her own child. "Thank you, Master Dragon." She said.

"What is that?" Choza asked curiously.

"It is the Inu Summoning Scroll." Tsume said with tears of joy in her eyes. "It was stolen years ago and my clan had feared that it had been destroyed."

Shark just smiled and nodded his head. He then turned and glared at Hiashi, who immediately realized that he was in trouble. "Hiashi, I must say that I'm very disappointed in your actions." Shark said calmly but with a cold tone that sent chills down Hiashi's spin. "I thought I showed you years ago that while natural born skill is good for getting started, it takes hard work and dedication to truly become powerful." Hiashi started to open his mouth to say something but was stopped by a glare from Shark. "I know how you've given up on training your eldest daughter, Hinata, and that is something I know your wife would not have stood for if she were still alive."

"I'm sorry, Master Dragon, but my clan needs a strong leader and-" Hiashi tried to explain.

"Then you should've tried contacting me sooner so I could help her!" Shark shouted at the Head of the Hyuga Clan. "I've been training Hinata for the last week and she is much stronger than she ever was before."

Hiashi was stunned to hear that his daughter was training under Shark's guidance. "I…didn't know."

Shark huffed. "Maybe if you tried being more of a father instead of the Head of a Clan, you'd know more about your own daughter than just what you assume to be true." He continued to glare at the Hyuga Leader. "Had you been paying closer attention to her, you'd have noticed that she is naturally more flexible that any of the other Hyuga, which is what made learning the Gentle Fist so difficult for her. Had you seen this, you've been able to see that she needed to create a style that took advantage of that flexibility, and she would've been a more confident and capable ninja." His glare was soon followed by his Killing Intent. "Then there's the fact that you had her sparring against her younger sister!" He yelled at Hiashi. "What kind of father judges his daughters' abilities by having them beat the crap out of each other?"

Hiashi sank into his seat as Shark's anger was legendary.

"Since you seem to have lost your common sense I guess I need to remind you that Hinata would sooner kill herself than harm a single hair on Hinabi's head." Shark hissed. "You should've known this and realized that Hinata was purposely holding back." He then closed his eyes as went for the kill. "If your wife were still alive, she'd have skinned you alive for having them do that." He said coldly.

Hiashi paled as he realized that Shark was right. His late wife hated the whole branch-families thing and had attempted to convince him to get rid of it on more than one occasion. "You're right…" He mumbled.

Shark took a deep breath to calm down. "Hiashi, I suggest you talk to Hinata about your pact with the Namikaze Clan to see if she is interested." He said calmly. Sarutobi and the Heads of the Ninja Clans knew what Shark was talking about but the advisors didn't. "Let your kids now that I'd like for them to come to the Namikaze Residence tomorrow." Naruto had decided that he was going to come clean with his friends and tell them everything, so Shark was going to do everything he could to get them together. The heads agreed to speak with their children as it would be very important if Shark was using them as messengers.

_**The Next Morning, at the Namikaze Residents**_

Naruto was nervous all of the Rookie Nine, minus Sasuke, were in attendance for his confessions, as was Rock Lee, who Naruto respected and like. Tenten had been invited but she was too busy helping Neji train for the finals and apologized with Lee promising to fill her in later, much to Naruto's relief of not having to go through it a second time. Everyone had gathered in the living room of the Namikaze Mansion. Kida and Akamaru were sitting on the floor, Sakura, Ino, Hinata and Kin were sitting on the couch together, Shikamaru, Choji and Lee, who had a cast on his left leg and had to walk with a crutch, were sitting at a table while Shark and Naruto were standing at the entrance to the room, with Naruto trying to get over his nerves. "It's best to just get it over with, kid." Shark said calmly, giving Naruto a gentle push into the room.

"Yeah," Naruto sighed as he entered the room. Everyone calmed down as Naruto sat down in a chair facing everyone. "Uh, hey, everybody." He said nervously.

"So, what's this about Naruto?" Choji asked.

"Yeah, our parents told us that Master Dragon wanted us to be here for some sort of announcement." Kiba said impatiently.

Naruto took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "I've got two things I need to tell you guys about." He said. "I've always considered you guys to be my friends, no matter who I might have acted, I've always thought of you as friends." The others could tell that Naruto was being extremely serious for once. "Bushy Brow, I may not have known you for as long as the others but I respect you as being a fellow underdog and having a dream that you also won't give up on." Rock Lee nodded solemnly as he also respected Naruto. Naruto took another deep breath to calm down. "You all know that about thirteen years ago the Nine-Tailed Fox attacked the village and the Fourth Hokage was able to defeat him."

"Yeah we all know that, so what's the big deal?" Kiba asked impatiently. Before he could say anything else, Akamaru barked at Kiba, which shut him up immediately. Apparently, the pup could tell that Naruto was nervous and that Kiba wasn't helping any.

"What I'm about to tell you is top secret and you could be killed if you try telling others." Naruto explained.

"If it's that top secret then don't tell us." Sakura argued.

"It's alright, he's the exception to the rule." Shikamaru said calmly. The fact that Shikamaru was wide awake made everyone lean in a little more closely.

"Shikamaru is correct. You see, the Nine-Tailed Fox wasn't killed but was seated inside the body of a newborn." Naruto explained. He looked away from everyone, unable to see their faces. "That child was…me." He expected them to all get angry or try to deny it but none of it came. He glanced at them and saw that they were all shocked.

"Is-is that why people have treated you so badly?" Kiba asked cautiously.

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, they don't see me but the demon that is sealed inside of me. They feel that it's my fault the village was attacked even though the Fourth Hokage's dying wish was that I be treated as a hero because my body acts as a prison to the Fox. It was only thanks to the intervention of the old man that I wasn't killed as a baby."

The others were all processing the information and they all realized that it made sense. They had all seen how the different villagers had treated Naruto and now it all made complete and totaled sense. "So this is why my aunt hates your guts." Sakura said angrily.

"Yeah, pretty much all of the Civilian Council has been trying to blame things on me or get me kicked out of the village, not to mention the old man's so-called advisors." Naruto informed them.

Everyone was quiet for a while before Hinata broke the silence. "You said there was a second thing you wanted to talk to us about?" She asked timidly but not blushing as badly as before.

"Yeah, you see, unlike what most people seem to believe, the Fourth Hokage had a wife." Naruto said as he showed them the same picture that Shark had shown him. "I want all of you to look closely at this picture. As far as I know this is the only family portrait." He set the picture down on the table Shikamaru, Choji and Lee were sitting at.

All of the others went to the table and gathered around the picture. They didn't really see anything other than the Fourth Hokage and a red-headed woman but Ino was the one that saw what Naruto wanted them to see. "She's pregnant?" Ino shouted pointing to where the woman's hands were.

"Her name was Kushina Uzumaki." Naruto said calmly.

Everyone recognized the last name as being Naruto's. "Wait, you mean you're…?" Choji started to ask but Naruto nodded.

"Yeah, my real name is Naruto Namikaze. I'm the son of Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki." Naruto admitted.

Everyone, but Shark and Hinata, were shocked by this. "None of you are to talk about this outside of this area." Shark said sternly. "If the Civilian Council finds out or some of Minato's old enemies catch wind of this, Naruto's life will be in more danger than it has ever been in before." All of them swore not to speak of it as they all had a new respect for Naruto and would never betray his trust. However a number of them knew that they would be talking to their parents that night about what they had just learned.

The rest of the morning Naruto spent showing his friends around. He gave them all permission to use the Namikaze Jutsu Library, which was filled with scrolls on different Jutsu including Secret Jutsu known only to certain Clans. Shino was surprised to find that there was a copy of an Aburame Clan Scroll, thought to have been destroyed by an enemy years ago, in the library. He began studying and practicing the lost Jutsu that were in the scroll. Sakura and Ino were interested in the Medical Ninjutsu Scrolls, Sakura wanted to become a Medical Ninja while Ino wanted to be an interrogator like her father which required Medical Knowledge.

Rock Lee was especially interested in the Taijutsu Scrolls but Shark refused to let him do any training as he knew Lee's body was extremely damaged from his fight with Gaara. Shark placed his hands on Lee's back and used what Medical Ninjutsu he knew to take a look at Lee's condition. _'This is bad.'_ He thought. _'There are bone fragments imbedded in his spine. This kid will be lucky if he still has the ability move in a few years, let alone continue being a ninja.'_ He sighed. 'If Tsunade was here I'm sure she and I could figure out a way to treat him.'

Lee could tell as Shark removed his hands that it wouldn't be good news. "So, what's the verdict?" Lee asked.

Shark sighed. "I'm sorry Lee but there isn't much I can do for you at this time. However, I suggest you stop doing any and all Taijutsu training for the time being." Lee was horrified. "You have bone fragments imbedded in your spinal cord and, if you keep training, you'll not only lose your chance of being a ninja but you'll lose your ability to move at all much faster than if you stopped."

"So, there is no chance of me fulfilling my dream?" Lee asked sadly.

Shark shook his head. "Now, I never said that." Lee looked at him in surprise. "Look, I just want you to stop any Taijutsu training but keep up with your physical therapy. I know for a fact that Tsunade might be able to do more for you than I can but, until I find her, you need to stop your intense training. Those fast movements are causing the bone fragments to go deeper into your spine."

"So, if I stop my Taijutsu training for the time being, I'll have a better chance of recovering from this?" Lee asked hopefully.

Shark nodded. "Now, you can read up on the Taijutsu moves and meditate on how they should be done but no doing them yourself." He warned. Lee promised that he wouldn't do any training.

While the others were looking over scrolls or just hanging out, Hinata had pulled out a few Jutsu Scrolls that had Jutsu that would help Naruto in the fight against Neji. They were Earth Style Jutsu that would allow Naruto to hide underground while his Shadow Clones fought Neji. As Naruto was reading up on the Jutsu, he started experiencing a headache and couldn't focus on the Jutsu. Shark noticed it and could tell something was wrong. He went over to Ino and Sakura, "Ino, could you go and get your father for me?" He asked.

"Sure but he'll want to know what for as he's at work right now." Ino said.

Shark nodded. "Tell him that I sent for him and that we have a possible Level Three Mind Seal that I need his help in dealing with." He explained.

Ino had no idea what that meant as Mind Seals above Level Two were classified as Jonin level information so she knew it had to be serious. She looked at the clock that was in the library and saw that it was lunch time, which meant her father was probably at one of the restaurants near the Interrogation Prison. "I'll be back as soon as I can." Ino said before leaving.

_**A few minutes later, at a restaurant in the Leaf Village,**_

Inoichi Yamanaka had just finished paying for his lunch and was heading back to his work area when he heard a familiar voice calling him. "Hey dad!" Ino shouted as she ran up to him.

"Oh, hello, Ino, what can I do for you?" Inoichi asked. He knew that it had to be important if his daughter was coming to get him at work.

"Master Dragon asked me to come get you." Ino replied. "He said that there's a Level Three Mind Seal that he needs your help with."

Inoichi was horrified. "Did you just say level Three?" He asked.

"Yeah." Ino could tell that her father was furious.

"Ino, take me to him." Inoichi ordered and Ino led her father to Shark's location.

_**Back at the Namikaze Mansion,**_

Shark was waiting for Ino and her father at the entrance to the Namikaze Residence. "Good to see you again, Inoichi, I just wish it was under better circumstances." Shark said as he led Inoichi to the Library where Naruto was waiting for them.

"What's going on, Dragon-Sensei?" Naruto asked curiously as the others were asked to stand off to the side.

"Naruto, I think someone placed a Level Three Mind Seal in your mind." Shark said.

"Uh, what's that?" Naruto asked.

Inoichi stepped forward. "Those are seals that have to do with decreasing a person's intelligence and chakra control." He answered.

Everyone was shocked. "Wait, you mean that someone purposely made Naruto into knucklehead?" Kiba asked.

"No, it doesn't change the person's personality; it just makes it difficult to learn new jutsu and to focus their chakra." Inoichi explained. "My guess is that Naruto would've been a lot like he is now but he would've been a lot smarter and a stronger ninja."

"Let's not make any assumptions until we've taken a lot inside, Inoichi." Shark said calmly.

Inoichi was surprised by that. "You mean you haven't looked inside?" Shark nodded. "Then how do you know that's what we're dealing with."

"When Naruto was studying a new jutsu, I saw him flinch in pain and rub his head, as if he had a sudden headache." Shark explained. "In my travels, I've seen different side effects for all kinds of jutsu and seals. The ones Naruto showed are the basic ones from a Level Three Mind Seals. Not to mention the fact that Naruto's academy scores were pretty low when you think of who his parents were. Even if he didn't try very hard, he should've done a little better than he did, considering whom he had pulled pranks on."

"I see." Inoichi said. "Well, then we'll just have to take a look inside to verify it." He and Shark summoned their chakra to the palms of the hands and put them in front of Naruto's face. "Naruto, I need you to close your eyes and open your mind to us." Their chakra slowly left their hands and gently made its way into Naruto's mind, so they could take a look around.

All of the other Genin watch nervously. Hinata, Kin, Sakura and Ino were all worried about Naruto while the others were worried about who would do something like this to Naruto.

Inside Naruto's mind, Shark and Inoichi found their way through the tunnels of Naruto's thoughts. Shark found something but, since they couldn't talk, he waved Inoichi over to him and pointed it out to Inoichi. There was a chakra string going through that part of Naruto's mind, the kind that was part of the seal they were looking for. The two started to follow the string back to the source and after a while they finally found what they were looking for. The seal was really complex but it was easy for the two of them to figure out who was behind it. _'Danzo!'_ They both thought angrily. They memorized the seal and began to work on removing the seal, being sure not to trip any sort of traps.

'_When I get my hands on Danzo, I'm going to take great pleasure in slowly killing him before I wring his arrogant neck.'_ Shark thought as he worked with Inoichi. Shark was good with seals and probably could've handled it on his own but he knew it was best to have an expert on the workings of a person's mind, like Inoichi, around just in case things got complicated.

Inoichi was focusing completely on his work. _'I can't believe nobody suspected this.'_ He thought. _'Then again, they could have but they just ignored it because of what Naruto has inside of his body.'_

It took a while but the two were able to safely remove the Mind Seal. Inoichi motioned for them to leave but Shark shook his head and pointed to another chakra string. Inoichi nodded, realizing that Shark wanted to see where it went, just in case there was another seal. They began following it deeper into Naruto's mind.

What they found was very disturbing.

They indeed found another with Danzo's name all over it. _'A Level Five Mind Eraser Seal!'_ The two thought at the same time.

'_Forget killing Danzo slowly, I'm going to destroy him and those so-called advisors!'_ Shark thought angrily as he and Inoichi began the long process of removing the seal.

_**About a half hour later,**_

Shark and Inoichi finally left Naruto's mind and returned to their bodies. "That takes care of those." Shark said as he sat down to rest. Inoichi wasn't tired as he was used to those kinds of jutsu while Shark didn't have much practice at it. Naruto was sitting in the chair with his eyes closed, resting.

"So what's the verdict?" Kin asked curiously.

Inoichi looked at Shark who motioned for him to answer the question. "There were two seals: An Intelligence Reduction Seal combined with a Chakra Disruption Seal and a Mind Eraser Seal." He answered.

"What did they do?" Hinata asked.

Shark sighed. "The Intelligence Reduction Seal cut Naruto's Intelligence at least in half while the Chakra Disruption Seal made it extremely difficult for him to control his Chakra. To be honest, the only thing that had allowed Naruto to control his Chakra so far was his extremely strong will."

"And the Mind Eraser Seal is pretty much explains itself." Shino said emotionlessly but everyone could tell he was a little disturbed by those types of seals.

"Yeah, someone wanted to be able to use that seal on Naruto should he get too powerful, so they could control him." Shark growled. He looked at Inoichi. "I believe you have more than enough evidence to bring at least two those involved in for questioning, especially if you go to the Hokage directly with this."

"I agree and I was planning on doing just that." The Head of the Yamanaka Clan nodded. "However, I think you should come with me as it would make things much smoother."

Shark agreed and got up but faced the Genin that were in the Library. "I trust all of you will behave yourselves while I'm gone?" He asked and received a nod from all of them. He looked directly at Kin, Hinata, Sakura and Ino, all of whom had gathered around a still unconscious Naruto to make sure he was alright. "Keep an eye on him. When he wakes up, get him any of the scrolls he asks for. I'm sure he will want to take advantage of his newly restored intelligence." The girls nodded. With that, Shark and Inoichi left to report their findings to the Hokage.

_**Meanwhile, at the Hokage's Office,**_

Hiruzen Sarutobi was not enjoying one of the parts of his job as being Hokage. The amount of paper work he had to do always seemed to be increasing in size. Even though he knew most of the papers were submitted by the Civilian Council to keep him busy, he still had to do them since he couldn't prove anything. A knock on his door was a welcomed break. "Enter." He said as he sat back in his chair. The door opened and, to the elder Hokage's surprise, Inoichi Yamanaka and Shark Dragon entered together looking very serious. _'Why do I have a feeling I'm not going to like this?'_ The old man thought as he chewed on the end of his pipe. "So, to what do I owe this visit?" Sarutobi asked.

Shark and Inoichi then proceeded to tell the older Hokage what they had found inside Naruto's mind. Needless to say, saying Sarutobi was angry would've been an understatement: HE WAS PISSED! Fortunately, Shark had put up some privacy seals so no one could hear them as the Hokage was swearing up a storm. "HOW DARE THEY DO THAT TO NARUTO!" He bellowed angrily. "WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON THEM, I'LL MAKE SURE THEY NEVER MEDDLE WITH PEOPLES LIVES AGAIN!"

"Damn, last time I heard you this angry was when your eldest son and his wife were killed by an old enemy of yours that you thought had become an ally." Shark said with a shudder.

Inoichi was shocked to see the elderly man this angry. Sure he was the Hokage but everyone knew he wasn't exactly in his prime anymore. Still, seeing this was a reminder of why Sarutobi had been made the Third Hokage.

"Those assholes will pay for this!" Sarutobi growled. "If it weren't for the fact that we have an invasion to plan for, I'd have my advisors interrogated as well as all of the Civilian Council."

Shark sighed. "I doubt we'll be able to make this stick to the advisors as they'll just brush it off as defending the village and say that it was all Danzo's doing." He said.

Sarutobi couldn't help but agree. "Those two are becoming more troublesome as time goes on." He said. He then muttered something that Inoichi couldn't hear. Shark, however, heard something about the Uchiha Massacre but couldn't quite figure out what it was.

Shark sighed and finally made up his mind on something that had been bugging him for a while. "I've decided that I'll be sticking after the Chunin Exam." He admitted. "I'll be staying at the Dragon Mansion, since it is right next door to the Namikaze Mansion that way I can continue to train, and keep an eye on, Naruto."

Sarutobi was relieved, not only would Naruto be safer now but Tsunade would most likely be willing to return to the village once she learned of this as well as Shark would be able to help Sarutobi regain control over the Leaf Village Civilian Council. "That's a relief." Sarutobi said. "I'm getting to old for all the shit the Civilian Council keeps pulling."

Shark smirked. "In that case…" He stood up from his seat, formed a hand sign and shouted, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Two clones then appeared. "These two will help you take care of the paperwork so you have more time to get back into shape." Shark said with a smile. "At night, they'll disperse and in the morning I'll create two or three new ones to come help you."

Sarutobi smiled happily. "Thank you Shark." Now, he would have more time to focus on preparing for his inevitable fight with Orochimaru.

**To Be Continued…**

_**Author's Note 2**__**: I know the civilian Council members names mean greed, power, wealth and money in Japanese and I did that on purpose because that was either their main characteristic or what they cared about most.**_


	4. Chapter 4: Final Exam and Hokage Battle

_**Author's Note**__**: In my chapters about the invasion and the final rounds there will be parts that were from the Anime version of Naruto. I do not own Naruto, or any of the characters you recognize, by any stretch of the imagination. I'm just doing this for fun.**_

**Naruto and the Dragon Master**

**Chapter 4: Final Exam and the Hokage Battle**

_**Date: One Week Later, the Day of the Finals of the Chunin Exam,**_

_**Location: Namikaze Mansion**_

The last week had probably been the most fruitful for Naruto ever since he had gotten his hands on the Scroll of Seals. With his new intelligence Naruto had mastered all the different Jutsu that Hinata recommended as well as his sword training with Shark. During that week, Rock Lee, Shino Aburame, Shikamaru Nara, Ino Yamanaka and Sakura Haruno joined Hinata in coming by everyday for either helping Naruto prepare or training with Shark Dragon.

Rock Lee and Hinata provided Naruto with plenty of information on Neji's style of fighting and the head games he liked to play. Rock Lee even pointed out that Naruto's Shadow Clones would be perfect for hiding in, if he created enough of them and made sure he attacked with them.

Shikamaru also helped Naruto get used to his intelligence by playing shogi with him. Naruto turned out to be a natural shogi player, either beating Shikamaru or stalemating him. The two actually enjoyed playing against each other since they were evenly matched and able to push each other.

Shino wasn't really able to offer any advice or help in Naruto's training but he still came by everyday and did what he could. Ino and Sakura were able to master a good bit of Medical Ninjutsu and used it to help Naruto recover from his self gained injuries. Tenten had stopped by after Lee had told her what Naruto had told him and apologized to him for her underestimating him or if she had ever mistreated him.

Right now, Naruto was getting ready to head for the battle arena. Kin was staying behind to keep safe from the Invasion while Shark, Hinata, Ino and Sakura went with Naruto to the arena. "Be careful, Naruto." Kin said as she gave him a goodbye hug.

"Don't worry I'll be fine." Naruto reassured her. The two had become pretty good friends during their time in the same house.

Shark created a Shadow Clone and had it transform into Kin before they left. "It's part of our plan to get at Orochimaru." Shark explained to the confused looks of the young Ninja. The group the headed out together and made their way to the battle arena from the rooftops since it was much faster.

_**Shikamaru's Home,**_

Shikamaru was not a morning person but then again he always woke up before his alarm went off, so it made little since to even use it. However, unlike most morning Shikamaru had a good reason for getting out of bed. The Final Exams were today and he was expected to compete in them. The only problem this morning was his mom who seemed to be in such a hurry to get to the arena before anyone else while Shikamaru and his father were taking their time. '_This is such a drag.'_ Shikamaru thought as he left the compound and headed out.

_**Hyuga Compound,**_

Neji Hyuga was also on his way to the battle arena. Even though he looked calm on the outside, he was furious on the inside. No matter where he looked, he could find no information on his opponent's skills. Especially since there were rumors about Naruto being trained by Shark Dragon but Neji had been unable to verify those rumors. _'It doesn't matter.'_ Neji thought to himself. _'Destiny is on my side. There is no way some dead last is going to beat me, the prodigy of the Hyuga Clan.'_ Neji continued on his way to the battle arena.

_**Sand Ninja Hotel Room,**_

The three siblings were all getting ready for their matches. Kankuro wasn't sure if he was going to fight while Temari was hoping she'd at least get to have her match to prove her skills. Gaara was being his usual quiet self. "Alright you three, remember your training and you'll do fine." A new man said. Baki, Jaki's older brother, had arrived the night before to make sure they understood their mission. He also made sure his brother didn't do anything stupid so Temari was able to get a goodnight's sleep without having to worry about possibly getting raped. The three nodded and head to the battle arena.

_**Aburame Compound,**_

Shino had just finished eating his breakfast and was getting ready to leave. He had mastered a number of jutsu that were thought to be lost and his father was going to be at the tournament to see them in action. Both of his parents were at the breakfast table but no one was speaking, which was common for the Aburame since they were ninja of few words. Shino reached the door and was about to leave when his father put his hand on his shoulder. "Good Luck, son." Shibi said tonelessly.

"Thanks." Shino replied. The two then left together for the battle arena.

_**Rocky Training Area, Half-Hour until Start Time,**_

Sasuke Uchiha was not resting or even listening to Kakashi. "Sasuke, we need to get you to the battle arena." Kakashi said sternly.

"Hmph, I'm an Uchiha, they can and will wait for me until I get there." Sasuke replied arrogantly. He still had some training he needed to complete before he'd be ready to fight Gaara.

Kakashi glared at his student. _'I really wish I could've trained Naruto instead of you, you little bastard, at least he'd listen to me when I gave him a good reason for wanting to rest up. If it hadn't been for those idiot advisors, I'd have let Guy beat some humility into you.'_ He thought angrily. He then sighed. _'I just hope Minato-Sensei can forgive me for not training his son. But if what I've heard is true, Naruto will be more than ready to teach Sasuke a little humility.'_ He smiled under his mask as the thought of Sasuke getting the snot beaten out of him by a bunch of Naruto Shadow Clones.

_**A half hour later, at the Battle Arena,**_

The stands were filled with visiting Ninja, civilians and other officials. In the Arena stood Naruto Uzumaki, Shino Aburame, Shikamaru Nara, Neji Hyuga, Gaara, Temari and Kankuro. The only one missing was Sasuke but none of the other contestants seemed to care.

Up on the area looking over the arena, the Third Hokage was sitting in his seat waiting for his special guest to arrive. _'Things should be going according to plan; as long as my guess about Orochimaru is correct then things will be fine.'_ Sarutobi thought.

Sakura, Hinata, Ino, Rock Lee, Might Guy, Tenten, Choji, Kiba, Kurenai and Asuma sat in the stands together, along with Shark's Shadow Clone that was transformed into a clone of Kin. The real Shark Dragon had left the group to help coordinate the ANBU Black Ops. There were still a number of things that needed to be taken care of before the invasion began and time was running out. Hanabi had spotted her older sister and decided to join her in sitting with the other friends of Naruto.

Up in the Kage observation area, the Kazekage had arrived with his two cloaked bodyguards. _'Oh, how foolish of you, my former student.'_ Sarutobi thought as he turned to face the man. "Ah ha, you made it!" He said warmly, as if he didn't know anything. "Welcome Lord Kazekage!"

'_Foolish old man, you really have gotten old.'_ The Kazekage thought arrogantly as he sat down in his seat.

"I hope your journey wasn't too tiring." Sarutobi said with a smile.

"Not at all, I'm just glad for your sake the tournament was here in the Leaf Village." The Kazekage said. "Strong as you are, I doubt a long journey would have been good for you. Isn't time for you to choose the Fifth Hokage?"

Sarutobi laughed. "You speak as if I were an old man, there's still plenty of life left in me." He said as he stood up. "No, I intend to be here for some time to come." He then addressed those gathered. "Welcome all to the Chunin Final Exam! We will now begin the Final Tournament with our eight candidates demonstrating their skills and abilities! We ask that you remain until all the matches are done! Now let us begin the Exam!" He then returned to his seat.

"You said eight candidates, aren't you missing one?" The Kazekage asked curiously.

"He must be running a little late." Sarutobi replied as he sat down and looked into the arena.

Down in the arena, the proctor stepped forward. "My name is Genma and I will be the proctor for this exam." Genma explained. "Before you ask, the Sound Ninja Dosu had withdrawn from the tournament. As for the Uchiha, if he's not here on time, we will move his match until the others are completed but, if he is still not here, then he will be disqualified. All of you but the first two contestants will need to go to the waiting area so we can begin."

"Fine by me." Naruto mumbled to himself as he glared at his opponent, Neji, who just smirked arrogantly.

The others went up to the waiting are as Naruto and Neji faced each other. Genma told them the rules that were stated in the preliminaries about how he could stop the fight and they should forfeit to avoid any deaths. Naruto then reminded Neji of his promise to Hinata much to Neji's annoyance. _**"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"**_ Naruto shouted creating dozens of clones. While the smoke was still covering the field, the original Naruto went underground, having one of the clones disguise itself as the ground, covering the hole.

Everyone that didn't know Naruto was shocked at how many physical clones he had created. "That's a Jonin level Jutsu, how'd a kid like that learn it?" Izumo asked his friend, Kotetsu.

"This match just might be more interesting than we thought." Kotetsu replied with a smile.

"Don't ever…and I mean never…count me out!" The Naruto clones shouted together before the attacked the Hyuga prodigy.

Neji is shocked that he is being forced to use some of his best moves so soon in the fight. He released a large amount of chakra from his body and began spinning it and his body in a circle. _**"Eight Trigrams: Rotation!"**_ Neji shouted to the shock of Hiashi who was sitting in the stands.

"But…I thought only father could…?" Hanabi said to Hinata.

Hinata smiled at her sister. "I'm not too surprised by this since Neji is a genius when it comes to the Gentle Fist." She said calmly. "However, Naruto knew that Neji might know this technique and is more than ready for it."

Just then, Neji got into a new fighting stance. _**"Eight Trigrams: Sixty-Four Palms!"**_ He shouted before striking the different clones at their chakra points. "Two-Palm…Four-Palm…Eight-Palm…Sixteen-Palm…Thirty-Two-Palm…Sixty-Four-Palm… Eight Trigrams: Sixty-Four Palms!" He finished up the number of strikes but found that there was still an untouched Naruto standing.

Naruto had come out of his hiding place and just stood there waiting for Neji to make his next move. "What's the matter Neji? You tired already?" Naruto taunted his opponent. "Come on how about a free hit, right here?" He tapped his chest confidently.

Everyone was shocked by this, including Naruto's friends. "What are you doing Naruto?" Sakura asked in horror.

Naruto just smiled and let Neji hit him with the Eight Trigrams: Sixty-Four Palms. This resulted in all of Chakra points being blocked so he couldn't use his chakra anymore.

"Smart." 'Kin' said with grin. Everyone looked at her like she was crazy. "Have you all forgotten what Naruto has in him and can ask for help from?" The Jonin weren't sure what was more surprising: that a Sound Ninja knew about the Nine-Tails inside Naruto or that all the Leaf Genin sitting with them realized what 'she' was talking about as smiled.

"Oh, now Naruto's just playing dirty." Kiba chuckled.

"Yeah but you gotta admit that he is fighting smart." Ino said calmly. "Getting Neji to drop his guard when he should be on guard at all times isn't easy and this is definitely the way to do it."

Guy, Kurenai and Asuma were shocked by what they were hearing. "You mean that Naruto can control that chakra?" Asuma asked his students.

"Not completely but just enough to restore his chakra network and reopen his chakra points." Sakura replied.

"I still find it disturbing that you kids know the truth about Naruto." Guy said sternly.

"It's alright, Guy-Sensei, Naruto was the one who told us." Lee explained. "He was nervous on how we'd react but we all assured him that we'd stay his friends even though he has that inside of him." The other Genin nodded in agreement and the adults were all extremely proud of them for it.

Back in the arena, Neji had told Naruto all about the Main and Side-Branches of the Hyuga family and why he hated the Main Branch. Naruto had a comeback for each other his problems as he had been told all about it by Hinata. Neji was shocked when Naruto began calling upon the power of the Nine-Tailed Fox to give him more power and reopen his chakra network. _'This is impossible!'_ Neji thought in horror.

Up in the Kage Observation area, the two Kages were both stunned by what they were seeing. Sarutobi smiled happily as he realized Jiraiya must have taught the boy how to control some of the fox's chakra. _'Good work Naruto, now I'm sure you'll be able to handle the Sand's Jinchuriki.'_ Sarutobi thought.

The Kazekage was shocked that the boy was this far into his training that he could control the fox's chakra but didn't think it would do any harm to his plans.

Naruto and Neji attacked each other with a large amount of chakra emanating from both of their bodies. The resulting explosion sent both of them flying backwards stunning everyone in the stands. They both crashed into the ground causing small craters to form. As the smoke cleared, the audience could see Neji getting up and a seemingly unconscious Naruto in his crater. "Sorry but you're a failure." Neji said confident that he had won.

Suddenly, Naruto erupt from the ground bellow Neji and hit him with a powerful punch to the jaw. Neji was too stunned and too weakened from the fight to get back up. The Naruto on the ground disappeared revealing the hole that Naruto had made at the beginning of the match to hide in while his clones fought Neji.

"Way to go Naruto!" Sakura shouted happily as others around her cheered.

"He lured Neji in by using his shadow clone as bait." Asuma surmised with a smile as they watched Naruto and Neji talk a little.

"You can do it to, after all, unlike me, you're not a failure." Naruto finished.

Genma smiled and the declared Naruto the winner. _'That kid is something else. He tired and frustrated Neji with his shadow clones then he comes out and let's Neji hit him to get Neji to drop his guard. Then he used the same hole he had hid in to sneak under Neji and deliver the final strike.'_ He turned to Neji. "Even a caged bird will eventually figure out a way to open the cage with its beak. The dream of flying free is too great to give up on. But this time you lost." Genma said out loud.

Up in the stands Hiashi pulled a scroll out of his cloak. _'I figured it would be time to give this to Neji but I had thought it would be a little longer than this.'_ He thought as he stood up as the medics took Neji from the arena floor. _'It's time Neji learned the truth.'_ He calmly walked to the medical area of the arena.

_**A few minutes later,**_

The battle area was cleaned up a bit to make it better for the next fight but nothing too big, like the hole Naruto had made earlier, was dealt with. Things were getting a little bit complicated since Sasuke hadn't shown up yet. Kankuro had decided to forfeit, really annoying the audience as they had expected to get a good show. Because of the forfeit, Shino automatically advanced to the next round of the tournament. Temari, however, wasn't about to forfeit so she floated down to the arena floor for her match with Shikamaru.

Unfortunately, Shikamaru wasn't too thrilled about having to fight a girl but Naruto decided to whisper something in his ear. "Hey, Shikamaru, don't forfeit." He whispered. "Try and make the match last as long as you can so Sasuke will be able to show up."

Shikamaru was a little annoyed but a stern glare from Naruto told him not to argue. Naruto then pushed the lazy Ninja over to guardrail, causing him to fall to the ground below, much to the amusement of the crowd. "Yeah, thanks a lot Naruto." Shikamaru groaned as he just laid there on the ground.

After a few minutes, the crowd was getting pretty annoyed with him not moving at all and just laying there. Some people even started throwing things at him to try and get him moving. 'Kin' was watching this and saw that some Sound Ninja were watching 'her'. "I'm going to use the restroom." 'Kin' told 'her' friends before leaving without a response from the others.

Guy was the only one that noticed and decided to keep an eye on the Genin since he knew about the invasion. As 'Kin' reached a deserted hallway, Guy watched as the 'girl' was pulled into the hall by a pair of Sound Jonin. He went to help but when he arrived he found the Sound Ninja dead and Master Dragon standing in the room with a strange coffin that had the four on it. "Master Dragon, what's going on?" Guy asked.

Shark smiled. "I'm just a shadow clone. I disguised myself as Kin because I figured Orochimaru was going to try something that involved the girl. Fortunately I was right about it." He explained. The Shadow Clone then disappeared only for the real Shark Dragon to appear a few seconds later. "Now, I'll just throw a little monkey wrench into Orochimaru's plan." He said motioning for Guy to leave, who nodded and went back to his fellow Jonin and the Leaf Genin.

Asuma and Kurenai noticed that Kin wasn't with Guy and that he looked a little serious. "What's up Guy?" Asuma asked curiously.

Guy shook his head in a serious way that told his fellow Jonin that it wasn't something to be said in public.

_**Meanwhile, Down in the Fighting Arena,**_

Shikamaru had finally gotten to his feet only to be attacked by an annoyed Temari, with her using her folded up fan to cause the attack. He easily dodged the attack and taunted her by saying he could just let himself get beaten by a girl. Temari was really ticked off at the comment and unfolded her fan to unleash one of her attacks. _**"Wind Scythe Jutsu!"**_ She shouted and unleashed a powerful gust of wind.

When the smoke cleared from the attack, Shikamaru was nowhere to be found. He was hidden in the bushes a good number of feet away planning his next move.

_**Twenty Minutes later,**_

Temari was shocked at how she had been outsmarted by the lazy ninja. He had maneuvered her to the hole that Naruto had created in his earlier match, without her even noticing. Sure the match to a while with her trying to keep out of the range of his Shadow Possession Jutsu but she had thought she had him a number of times only for him to slip through her fingers.

What was even more surprising was what he then said. "To hell with it, I give up!" He shouted to the shock of a number of people including Temari.

"WHAT?" A number of people shouted in shock.

"What did you say?" Temari asked in shock.

Shikamaru then went on to explain that he was almost out of chakra and that to keep going would be too much of a pain for him. Naruto just shook his head at Shikamaru being so lazy but didn't do anything else, while Shino remained emotionless. The two left the waiting area to meet Shikamaru on his way to where all of their friends and teachers were watching and waiting for Sasuke to arrive.

The Kazekage had convinced Sarutobi to wait another ten minutes for Sasuke to arrive since a good number of people had arrived solely for the purpose of seeing him in action.

None of the Leaf Genin really cared if Sasuke arrived in time or not, it was just that he was holding up the rest of the tournament and people were starting to get irritated.

Sure enough, just as Genma was about to disqualify him, Sasuke and Kakashi appeared in the battle arena in a swirl of leaves and smoke. "Sorry we're late." Kakashi apologized.

_**A little while later,**_

Sasuke and Gaara were face to face in the arena with Sasuke arrogantly stating that Gaara should just give up as he had no chance of beating Sasuke. Gaara however was not about to give up without a fight.

Kakashi had joined the others up in the stands watching the match and deflecting any of the Leaf Genins' questions. Naruto, Shino and Shikamaru had also joined their friends in the stands. "So Sasuke finally decided to show up," said Naruto as he watched the fight getting started.

Sasuke tried using shuriken but they were block by Gaara's sand shield. "So that's the sand shield Kakashi told me about." He said with an arrogant grin as he went in for a closer fight. Sasuke then started using Taijutsu moves at a speed that rivaled that of Rock Lee.

Kakashi explained that it was only because Sasuke knew Lee that the Uchiha had been able to master that speed. Gaara had finally gotten sick of what was going on, especially when Sasuke started getting through his Sand Armor, and enclosed himself in a shell of sand. Sasuke tried to get through the sand dome but found that it was far too strong for the normal Taijutsu he was using. "Time to show you my new jutsu." Sasuke gloated with an arrogant smile as he backed up a good distance and then leapt up the side of the wall.

Guy instantly realized what Sasuke was going to do. "What the hell do you think you were doing teaching Sasuke that move?" He growled at his longtime rival.

Kakashi glared at Guy. "One, you have no right to question what I teach my students after you taught Lee the Hidden Lotus and the Eight Inner Gates." He growled back. The Genin all saw as Sasuke's right hand started to glow with blue chakra that shot off electrical discharges as he powered it up. "Two, I didn't teach him the Chidori, he stole it while I was training and I taught him how not to kill himself with it."

Sakura and Ino were shocked. "What do you mean stole?" Ino asked.

Kakashi then explained what had happened with Sasuke arriving when he was training as stealing the Chidori jutsu with his Sharingan. The Jonin were all ticked off at Sasuke's attitude while the Genin couldn't help but be angry that they had fallen for his fake humble attitude. Sasuke then charged down and then straight at Gaara's dome of sand delivering a powerful blow that ripped through the sand.

"That move, its Kakashi's!" The Third Hokage said in shock from his seat.

"Excellent…" The Kazekage muttered to himself but the Hokage had heard him.

Suddenly, there was an inhuman scream coming from the sand. "BLOOD! IT'S MY BLOOD!" Gaara screamed in horror.

"What the hell?" Sasuke shouted as he felt something grab hold of his arm and starting to crush it. He reactivated the Chidori, hurting Gaara further and pulling his arm out. Attached to his arm was a strange sand arm that had strange markings on it.

Sasuke looked through the hole he made and saw a demonic eye looking back at him. The Killing Intent that flooded out nearly knocked the Uchiha on his back. The Sand Ninja were all shocked that Gaara had been hurt and couldn't believe what was happening as the Sand Dome started to crumble away, revealing an injured Gaara holding his bleeding left shoulder with blood showing from in between his fingers.

Just then, the entire stadium was filled with a strange feeling of sleepiness as someone was casting a Genjutsu. All of the Leaf Ninja in the area broke the Genjutsu, including the Genin. Guy had to help Lee since he was still recovering, while Hinata helped her younger sister break the jutsu since she was so young.

The two Kages slowly turned to face each other. "Now then, shall we begin?" The Kazekage asked casually. His two assistances then released a large smokescreen, seemingly startling the Hokage.

The explosion startled the Leaf Ninja and signaled the Sand and Sound Ninja to begin their attack on the village.

_**Outskirts of the Leaf Village,**_

A group of Sand Ninja had been working on a summoning when the signal was given. They all slammed down their scrolls at the same time. _**"Summoning Jutsu!"**_ They shouted together.

A giant three headed snake erupted out of the ground and smashed through the wall meant to keep invaders out. The Leaf Ninja all sprang into action as they had been expecting this and immediately engaged the Sound and Sand Ninja in battle.

_**Back in the Battle Arena,**_

The Leaf Ninja had engaged the invaders in battle while Temari and Kankuro went to Gaara's side. A good number of enemy ninja had disguised themselves as civilians and were now coming out to fight the Leaf Ninja.

Above the Kage area, the Third Hokage and the Fourth Kazekage were looking out at the battles. Raido had tried to help the Hokage earlier only to be hit in the chest with three kunai. The Kazekage seemed to have the Hokage held captive as four sound Ninja landed on the four corners of the roof. "It's about time we got to have some fun." The one with six arms said. He had dark skin and black hair styled much like Anko's.

"I was getting sweat in those clothes." The one with gray hair complained. He seemed to have a second head of hair coming out of the back of his neck.

"You're all smelly too, so disgusting." The only female said. She had long red hair that went down to her waste, had a pretty impressive breast size and a very shapely figure. She was around 19-21 years old, about 5 feet 3 inches tall and weighed about 110 pounds. If dressed properly, she would've been able to pass off as a sexy supermodel.

"Come on guys, we're all friends here." The largest member said. He was pretty fat, seemed to be a bit of a slob and orange hair.

A group of four ANBU Black ops appeared on the roof. "The Sound Ninja Four I presume." The Leader said calmly.

"Time for you four to go to work," the Kazekage said calmly.

"Right." The four said together. They all formed the same hand sign and shouted, _**"Ninja Art: Four Flames Formation!"**_ A black barrier jutsu enclosed the roof, keeping the ANBU from helping the Hokage.

"We're too late." The leader said stopping his men from trying to get through the barrier. "If we touch this barrier, we'll die."

"Time to step this up," the six armed man said.

"We better put up a barrier on the inside as well." The large member said and the others agreed.

"It looks like I won't be able to get out of this, will I Orochimaru?" Sarutobi asked calmly.

Orochimaru was a little stunned but not surprised that his sensei recognized him. He ripped off the mask that was covering his face and revealed that it was him. "I see you're as sharp as ever, Sarutobi-Sensei." Orochimaru said with a psychotic smile. "You must've figured it out after I spoke with Anko since there were more ANBU Black Ops here than I expected."

"Actually, we got our information from the female Genin you sent here." Sarutobi said calmly.

That comment didn't sit well with the female Ninja present. "What the hell did you bastards do with Kin?" She shouted angrily.

"Easy, Tayuya," the six armed man said, "he's just trying to rattle you."

Sarutobi smiled. "We didn't do anything to her. She told us willingly, though I'm not surprised considering her own teammates were beating her and about to rape her before my ninja found and rescued her." He answered. Tayuya was disgusted by that statement but didn't say anything else about it.

"I suggest you don't antagonize my ninja, Sensei," Orochimaru said. "Some of them have really nasty tempers."

_**Back in the Stands,**_

Kakashi and Guy were fighting the enemy ninja. Kakashi had sent Hinata, Ino, Tenten and Choji with Hinabi and Lee to protect the Nobles while Naruto, Sakura, Shino and Shikamaru went after Sasuke. Sasuke had been told by Genma to go to the shelter but the arrogant idiot went chasing after Gaara and his siblings as they left to get Gaara's wound treated and so he could rest up.

"Are you sure it was a good idea to send a bunch of Genin after them?" Guy asked.

"I'm sure." Kakashi said calmly. "Besides, Asuma is probably following that team of Sound Ninja that went after them and will be able to help them." He then thought of something. _'Besides, Naruto is the only one who could possibly stop Gaara's true form. I just hope Shark is able to help the Hokage soon enough and then go after Naruto.'_

_**Meanwhile, at the ANBU Black Ops Headquarters,**_

Shark Dragon, who was now wearing a black leather biker jacket with a red Leaf Symbol on the back, stood with Ibiki Morino as they saw the attacks beginning. "Looks like things are starting to pick up." Shark said calmly. "Ibiki, take a few of the ANBU and go secure the Namikaze residents. I wouldn't put it past Danzo or the civilian council to use this invasion as a means to get inside the house and steal whatever they could."

"I agree." Ibiki said calmly.

"Alright, I'm going to go take care of that barrier and the snake faced traitor." Shark said before leaping towards the battle arena. As he made his way towards the arena, Shark saw Naruto, Sakura, Shino, Shikamaru and the ninja hound Pakkun heading away from the area. _'They must be going after Sasuke and the three Sand Siblings.'_ He knew Gaara would be tough and stopped on the roof across from the one that had the barrier jutsu on it. "Tenzo!" Shark shouted.

Moments later, an ANBU Black Ops member appeared next to Shark. "Master Dragon?" He asked calmly.

"I want you to go after Naruto." Shark instructed him. "Let Naruto handle the Shukaku but if things get really out of hand I want you offer him any assistance that you can." Tenzo seemed skeptical. "I know Naruto is young but I've been personally training him so he can handle things for the most part. I'm also worried that the Uchiha might do something after seeing how powerful Naruto really is."

That explained things to Tenzo more than he expected. "I understand." He said before taking off after the Leaf Genin.

Shark pulled the two swords off of his back. "Now, it's time for this party to really get started." He said with a smile.

_**Inside the barrier,**_

Orochimaru and Sarutobi were now facing each other. _**"Ninja Art: Tile Shuriken!"**_ Sarutobi shouted, causing a number of the roof tiles to fly at Orochimaru like Shuriken.

"This is just too easy." Orochimaru gloated as he ran forward and then dodged the attack. _**"Striking Shadow Snake!"**_ A long snake shot out from Orochimaru's mouth. The snake bit the elder Hokage on the neck. "How do you expect to beat me with such a weak attack, sensei?" he asked before realizing something was wrong.

The Hokage that the snake was biting started to turn brown and melt: it was actually a mud substitution. Sarutobi then appeared behind Orochimaru. _**"Earth Style: Great Mud River!"**_ He shouted. A flood of mud then appeared and hit Orochimaru, knocking him down the roof.

"Is that all you've got?" Orochimaru goaded.

"Heh, far from it." Sarutobi countered. _**"Earth Style: Earth Dragon Bomb!"**_ A dragon head appeared where the mud river began and fired off a number of mud balls. _**"Fire Style: Fire Dragon Bomb!"**_ The Hokage released a large amount of fire from his mouth. The two bomb jutsu combined and struck Orochimaru was a great amount of force that seemed to overpower the rogue ninja.

The ANBU that were watching were impressed. "He combined earth and fire styles." The leader said in awe.

"Excellent work, Lord Hokage!" one of the members shouted.

"You can stop your act, Orochimaru; I know that didn't hurt you." Sarutobi said calmly.

"Alright but fair is fair since you're not taking this fight too seriously yourself." Orochimaru taunted.

"Falling back on taunts since you can't beat me?" Sarutobi asked.

Orochimaru smiled. "Far from it, in fact I figured it was time we stopped playing around."

Sarutobi grabbed the Hokage hat. "I couldn't agree more." He threw off his Hokage garbs and revealed that he was wearing his battle gear.

"I see you came prepared." Orochimaru said as he pulled off the Kazekage robes to reveal his own uniform. "But don't expect me to go easy on you just because you've gotten old and out of shape."

Sarutobi didn't say anything in response. He just smiled.

"What are you smiling at?" Orochimaru asked annoyed by his former sensei's confident attitude. _'Why does he seem more confident than I expected?'_ He wondered. The answer was one that Orochimaru never expected.

"_**DRAGON STYLE: DRAGON FIRE CROSSBOW!"**_ A familiar voice bellowed. Two dragons of fire soared through the air and crashed into the side of the barrier the ANBU were closest to. The force of this jutsu caused the barrier wall to crack and then shatter with an explosion.

"What the hell?" The Sound Ninja Four shouted in shock that their jutsu was beaten so easily.

The ANBU didn't hesitate to engage the four Sound Ninja as a new comer entered the smoke and landed next to the Hokage. "Sorry I'm a little late, old man, but traffic was murder." Shark joked as the smoke cleared.

Orochimaru glared at Shark Dragon. "I never expected you to show up." He hissed.

"Happy to disappoint." Shark grinned as he got into a fighting stance.

Sarutobi threw a number of Shuriken at Orochimaru. _**"Ninja Art: Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu!"**_ He shouted.

"_**Summoning Jutsu: Reanimation!"**_ countered Orochimaru, much to Sarutobi's horror, "First and second!" Two coffins rose in front of Orochimaru to block the Jutsu.

"A summoning jutsu used as a shield and what he's summoned!" Sarutobi said to himself.

"Now, the third!" Orochimaru shouted.

Sarutobi was about to stop it but Shark stopped him. "Let the snake try it." He told the Hokage with a mischievous grin that Sarutobi recognized all too well.

The three coffins opened up and revealed the three deceased Hokage: Hashirama Senju, Tobirama Senju and Minato Namikaze. The older two opened their eyes first. "It's been a long time, Hiruzen." The First Hokage said lifelessly.

"Oh, you've gotten so old, Sarutobi." The Second Hokage said also in a lifeless voice.

The final and youngest then opened his eyes. "Oh, it's you old man." The Fourth Hokage said in the same lifeless voice. He then looked to his sides and saw the other deceased Hokage. "I've always wondered what it would be like to fight alongside the first two Hokage."

"Enough of this useless prattling." Orochimaru hissed as he brought out three kunai with tags attached to them. He was about to insert them when all three kunai and the Fourth Hokage suddenly disappeared.

"This is probably the best prank I've pulled yet, eh Old Man?" The Fourth asked in Shark's voice as he tossed the three Kunai to the Hokage before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Had he not still had to fight the two Kages and Orochimaru, Sarutobi would've been on the floor laughing his head off but he still chuckled at Shark. "You always were one of my more interesting ninja, Shark." Hiruzen said with a smile as he tore up the tags that were attached to the kunai.

"I know." Shark said as he smiled and brushed his finger nails off on his jacket.

"We've still got work to do." Sarutobi said sternly.

Shark nodded and got serious. "You take the snake, I'll handle the knock offs." He said calmly.

"Oh, so we're knock offs are we?" Hashirama asked. Had he been able to show emotions, he would've been smiling at the kid's confidence.

"Brother, I think we need to give this kid a good spanking." Tobirama said.

Shark smiled. "Bring it on old men." The three then began fighting against each other.

"Your friend seems to be overestimating his skills and underestimating the past Hokage." Orochimaru said.

Suddenly, both of the unfinished reanimated Hokage exploded. Shark then landed next to Sarutobi. "How did you do that?" Sarutobi asked.

Shark smiled. "Orochimaru captured my shadow clone disguised as Kin and it was taken to the storage area where all three coffins were being held. I wasn't able to replace the bodies with clones because that would've alerted Orochimaru to my meddling but I was able to put Exploding Tags inside their bodies." He explained. "I just activated them so the two exploded without even known what hit them."

Sarutobi smiled. "I see you made a crucial mistake, Orochimaru." He said to the angry Sannin.

"You dare to make a mockery out of me, Dragon?" Orochimaru hissed angrily.

"Snakey, I make a mockery of everyone I have no respect for." Shark retorted with a grin. "And, let's face it, I have absolutely no respect for a traitorous piece of scum like you."

Orochimaru then spat out a sword. It was the Snake Sword, which had a blade as hard as diamonds. "I'm going to enjoy killing you." He hissed angrily as he shot forward to fight the Third Hokage and last remain member of the Dragon Clan.

Sarutobi dodged the attack and bit his right thumb before slamming it down to the ground, shouting _**"Summoning Jutsu: Monkey King Enma!"**_ An explosion of smoke allowed a large monkey to appear on the battle field.

"Well, it's about time you found him, Sarutobi." Enma said angrily as he faced Orochimaru. The two of them had met before when Sarutobi failed to stop Orochimaru from escaping the Leaf Village.

"Enma, quickly, Adamantine Nyoi!" shouted Sarutobi.

The Monkey King smiled. "Understood." it said before transforming into a metal a long metal staff.

_**Over in the stands,**_

Kakashi and Guy were still fighting the enemy ninja that seemed to be coming out of the wood works. "Looks like they planned a full scale invasion, old friend," Guy said to Kakashi as they stood back to back.

"Yeah but at least Master Dragon is here to help Lord Hokage deal with the situation." Kakashi replied. "That should send the message to other enemy not to try anything."

Unfortunately, just as he said that a large group of Mist Ninja appeared in the stands and began attacking the Leaf Ninja. All of their headbands had a cut on them signifying that they were all rogue ninja and no longer a part of the Village Hidden in the Mist. "So much for that assumption." Guy muttered to himself as he charged forward to engage the enemy.

Seconds later, he regretted that decision. "YYYYAAAAHHHH!" Kakashi shouted in pain as he felt two swords drive themselves into his back, piercing both of his lungs, and coming out of his chest, another through his kidney and a fourth through his right leg. One of the Mist Ninja had been able to hide all traces of his scent to sneak up behind Kakashi.

"KAKASHI!" shouted Guy as he rushed to his friend's side, plowing down anyone that got in his way. Guy was no medic but he knew a bad situation when he saw one and this was bad. "I NEED A MEDIC OVER HERE! KAKASHI IS DOWN!" He bellowed loudly.

The medics in the area all had their hands full at the moment and could see that Kakashi needed immediate attention. One medic stopped what she was doing, passed her patient off to someone else and rushed over to the injured Kakashi as fast as she could. "KAKASHI!" Rin screamed when she saw her only remaining former teammate. She looked a lot like she had all those years ago but was much more womanly with her breasts well formed and she was very beautiful. She immediately began administering medical attention to the wounds with Might Guy, Kurenai Yuhi and the injured but still fighting Neji Hyuga formed a triangle around them to keep any enemy away from them.

"R-Rin…?" Kakashi asked weakly as he struggled to open his normal eye.

"I'm here, Kakashi." Rin said with tearful eyes as she worked to heal the wounds. "Don't you dare die on me. Don't you dare leave me."

Kakashi reached up with a fingerless gloved hand and gently brushed Rin's cheek. "I…can't…" He replied. "I…need…to…keep…my…promise…to…Obito…" Rin remembered the dying request of their teammate and knew that Kakashi would never break that promise. That was the exact reason why Kakashi had left the ANBU Black Ops, so he could protect Rin better.

_**In the Leaf Village,**_

Ibiki and his squad were facing off with the three giant snakes. He had already stopped by the Namikaze Residents and found all of the Civilian Council members, other than Homaru and Koharu, and a number of Root ninja trying to break in, only to be taken out easily by Kin Tsuchi. All of those involved had been arrested and sent to holding cells to be interrogated later.

Unfortunately it didn't look like Ibiki would be the one to interrogate them as he was now face to face with one of the giant snakes. _'It looks like this is it.'_ Ibiki thought to himself as he glared defiantly at the snake.

"_**Ninja Art Summoning: Bring Down the House Jutsu!"**_ A familiar voice shouted. Suddenly at giant toad landed on the snake's neck, crushing and killing it at the same time. "Long time no see, Ibiki." The man riding the toad said. "My, my, what have they been feeding you? You used to be such a little squirt."

Ibiki immediately recognized the man. "It's Master Jiraiya!" He said happily.

"Jiraiya, one of the Sannin?" One of Ibiki's remaining men asked in surprise.

"Alright, you baby faces, sit back now and watch closely." Jiraiya said with a smile. He then started to strike some poses as he introduced himself. "When it comes to dealing with strange otherworldly freaks and monsters, no one's better than a strange hermit ninja! Thank Goodness that Jiraiya's here!" he shouted.

The two remaining snakes seemed a little reluctant to attack.

"Now unless you want to make this frog really mad, I suggest you leave and never bother us again!" Jiraiya growled at the beasts. _'So that pain in the ass, Orochimaru, has finally showed himself after all this time,'_ he thought to himself as he looked out at the destruction.

Ibiki then landed behind Jiraiya on the top and dropped down to one knee to give him a report. "The Hokage is at the battle arena but Master Dragon has already gone to help him." He reported. "I've also captured the Civilian Council members and a number of Root Ninja that were trying to break into the Namikaze Mansion."

Jiraiya smiled at Ibiki. "Good work. Now all we have to deal with is these invaders before they get the chance to do anymore damage." He said getting serious.

_**Back on the Roof of the Battle Arena,**_

Shark and Sarutobi were fighting Orochimaru as best they could when the Sound Ninja Four returned to help their master. "Sorry, we're late, master, but those ANBU Black Ops were much tougher than we thought." The six armed man said.

"Come on, Kidomaru, you know as well as I do that they were trying to keep us from returning here." The largest man said.

"You've got a point there, Jirobo." Kidomaru replied with a smile as the five ANBU from before landed on the sides of Shark and the Hokage.

"Forgive us for not being able to hold them off longer, Lord Hokage, but their abilities are much more advanced than we thought they'd be." The ANBU leader apologized.

"It's alright; we just have to make sure we finish the job." Sarutobi said calmly.

Shark leapt forward and attacked Orochimaru with his swords as the ANBU Leapt to re-engage the Sound Ninja Four. "It's time to end this!" Shark growled as his swords met the blade of the Snake Sword.

"How right you are!" Orochimaru agreed as he pulled out a purple bladed dagger.

'_The Poison Sword!'_ Shark thought as he dodged a slash Orochimaru made with the poisonous weapon. "One cut from that weapon, and it'll be the end on me. But it's a lot shorter than I remember it."

"That's right, I was saving this just in case I needed a means to slowly and painfully kill the old man." Orochimaru bragged. "I changed the sword into a dagger to make it easier to handle. Now it is the Poison Dagger."

Sarutobi appeared behind Orochimaru and knocked the Snake sword from his former pupil's hand with the Adamantine Nyoi. Shark smiled for brief second before he watched as Orochimaru curve his other hand in an impossible position to stab the elderly Hokage with the poisonous blade. "Sarutobi!" Shark shouted as the Poison Dagger cut the Third Hokage on the left forearm.

"**YYYAAAHHH!"** Sarutobi screamed in pain as the poison immediately began to take effect.

Shark was furious as he watched his old friend wither in pain. "That's it!" He roared. "I'm ending you right now! I'm going to make you suffer like never before!" The swords in his hands burst into black flames, the blades were completely made from the fire. _**"DRAGON STYLE: CURSE OF THE BLACK FLAMES!"**_ He roared as it unleashed the black flames on the traitorous Sannin.

Orochimaru was stunned by the Killing Intent coming from Shark and the power he felt from the attack Shark was preparing. HE just barely managed to jump out of the way of the attack and had to block with his arms, both of which erupted into black flames. **"NOOOOOO!"** Orochimaru screamed as he felt his arms being taken from his. The black flames sank into the skin, turning it purple, and making them completely useless.

Shark smirked. "Now your arms are completely useless to you." He explained. "All of those jutsu you are so desperately after are now forever out of your reach."

The four sound ninja rushed to their master's side as the ANBU surrounded the Hokage to protect him from any enemy attacks. "Get me out of here." Orochimaru hissed angrily. The four sound ninja did as they were told and started to pull back.

"We can't let them get away!" One of the ANBU shouted about to pursue them.

"Let them go!" Shark shouted. The ANBU Black Ops looked at his for a second. "We need to get the Hokage to the Hospital as fast as possible and protect him from any enemy attacks!"

"I agree." The ANBU Leader said as he went to pick up the Hokage.

Shark stopped him. "You get the Snake Sword." He ordered as his hand began to glow with Chakra. A second later, Shark knew what he had to do. "I need to remove Sarutobi's arm before the second effect of the poison begins to spread." He made one of his swords erupt in enough flames to sterilize it before he expertly amputated Sarutobi's arm from the elbow down. One of the ANBU then cleaned and covered the wound for Shark as he sealed the arm in a scroll for later examinations. "Let's go." Shark said as he put the scroll away. The lead ANBU handed him the Snake Sword as two of the other ANBU Black Ops carefully picked up the unconscious Hokage to transport him to the Hospital. The group headed off together. _'Don't you dare die on us old man.'_ Shark thought. _'It looks like I won't be able to help you after all, Naruto. I just pray that Tenzo will.'_

**To Be Continued…**

_**Author's Note**__**: I've recently decided that this story will just a prototype for my true story, which I've recently started working on as well. This is just to test the waters. I'll continue with this story for as long as I can keep interested, which I hope is until the Sasuke Retrieval Arc but with my ADD I highly doubt that. (More details on what I'm up to will be on the profile page.)**_


	5. Chapter 5: Battle of the Jinchuriki

_**Author's Note 1**__**: Prototype Story… There is something I need to clear up. I know how I said that this story is just a prototype but that's only because I never expected it to do as well as it has. I'm not going to abandon it, I'm just giving the readers a heads up that there might be long periods without updates later on but I will be completing this story, and possibly doing a sequel to it as well. Thank you for understanding and I hope that clears things up a bit. If not, please let me know and I will try to explain it as best I can.**_

_**Author's Note 2**__**: I've already started posting parts of the new Naruto story: Leaf Village's Dynamic Duo. Please read it and let me know what you think of it.**_

**Naruto and the Dragon Master**

**Chapter 5: Battle of the Jinchuriki**

_**During the Battle in the Leaf Village,**_

Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, Shino Aburame and Shikamaru Nara followed the tracker ninja hound, Pakkun, which Kakashi had summoned to lead them after Sasuke and the Sand Siblings. Sasuke had ran off after the three Sand Ninja even though Genma had told him to go to the shelters and not go after them. **"We've got trouble."** Pakkun said to the Genin. **"There are eight, not wait there's one more, which makes nine ninja following us."** The Genin were used to Pakkun talking because he had spoken to them just after Kakashi summoned him.

"Dammit, they're probably all Chunin or Jonin." Shikamaru complained.

"We need to keep going after Sasuke but we also need to deal with those following us." Naruto said calmly.

"What should we do?" Sakura asked.

Shikamaru sighed. "I'll take care of it." He said to the surprise of the others. "My Shadow Possession Jutsu gives me the best chances of succeeding and of surviving so it'd be best if I do it."

Shino didn't say anything as he kept going. Sakura wasn't so sure but Naruto agree that Shikamaru was correct in his statements. "We'll leave it to you, Shikamaru." Naruto said as the other four kept going while Shikamaru dropped back to divert the enemy away from the group. What the four remaining pursuers didn't know was that Tenzo was right behind them ready to help if they ever needed it.

_**A little ways ahead,**_

Sasuke had managed to catch up to the three Sand Ninja and was blocking their way. "This is as far as you go." Sasuke declared arrogantly. He then glared directly at Gaara. "Besides, I want to see what you really are!"

Temari knew that Gaara was in no shape for a fight with Sasuke at the moment. "Kankuro, get Gaara out of here!" She ordered as she attacked Sasuke. "I'll hold this guy off as long as I can."

Had it been under different circumstances, Kankuro would have argued with her but now wasn't the time for that sort of thing so he just nodded and took Gaara away from the area. "Be careful, Temari!" Kankuro shouted over his shoulder as he left.

"_**Wind Scythe Jutsu!"**_ shouted Temari as she waved her fan.

Sasuke was able to dodge the attack and hide behind a tree to plan his next move. _'This is annoying. That bitch should know she's no match for me.'_ He thought arrogantly. _'I'll need to save up my chakra for taking out Gaara but I also need to teach this bitch her place.'_ He then smiled as he had an idea.

"Come on out, Uchiha!" Temari shouted as she could still sense that he was nearby but not where he was located. Sasuke then came out in full view of the Sand Kunoichi, standing on a tree branch.

"_**Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu!"**_ Sasuke shouted as he unleashed his clan's most famous jutsu.

"Huh, you really think that will work on me?" Temari asked as she raised her fan before shouting, _**"Wind Scythe Jutsu!"**_ The wind jutsu blew the fire attack back at Sasuke causing him to jump backwards. _**"Sandstorm Jutsu!"**_ she shouted, causing the branch Sasuke was going to land on to be covered in sand.

Sasuke landed on the sandy branch only to immediately lose his balance and fall off. "Whoa!" He shouted in surprise as he fell off.

"You're all mine now!" Temari shouted as she jumped up and over Sasuke. She then threw three Kunai at Sasuke, with all three lodging themselves into his chest before he hit the ground. Temari smiled as she landed near the unconscious body of Sasuke Uchiha. She walked closer to make sure he was dead only for the body to disappear in a puff of smoke and replaced by a log with a burning tag on it. "What the-A substitution!" she shouted in shock. She then realized what the tag was. "Oh no!" she tried to jump away in time only to be hit by the shockwave and thrown back into a tree. Her arms were over her head as she had tried to get them over her face.

Suddenly, a bunch of wire wrapped around her, trapping her arms over her head and the rest of her body against the tree. Sasuke Uchiha then appeared in front of her with a look in his eyes that sent a chill through Temari's entire body; it was the same look that Jaki always gave her whenever he was planning something. "You really shouldn't have underestimated me, bitch." Sasuke sneered. "But I'm not going to kill you. I'm just going to leave you here until after I've killed your brothers. Then you're going to help me start to restore my clan."

Temari glared defiantly at Sasuke before she spat on his face. "I'd rather give myself to that lazy Nara kid or that Naruto. Hell I'd even go for that chubby guy from the preliminaries before I'd ever give myself to a sick bastard like you." She hissed angrily.

Sasuke glared angrily at the girl before smiling evilly. "Oh, I didn't plan on you just giving yourself to me. I was just going to take what I want!" To emphasize his point, Sasuke ripped off Temari's shirt and pants before slashing her stomach, breasts and legs with a kunai. He made sure it was extremely painful but wouldn't permanently disfigure her.

Suddenly, Sasuke stopped, sensing that others were approaching his location. "Dammit, looks like I'll have to wait a while before I can have my fun." He said before heading off after Kankuro and Gaara.

_**Not too far away,**_

Naruto, Shino, Pakkun and Sakura were getting closer to where Sasuke and Temari had been fighting. **"It smells like Sasuke is moving on after the other two."** Pakkun reported. **"The remaining person is still in that area but is alive."**

For some reason, Naruto felt that he should go check on where Sasuke had been fighting. "You guys go on ahead. I'm going to check out the situation at that area." Naruto said calmly. "Just leave some markings so I know which way to go so I can catch up."

He broke off from the group before anyone could say anything. "What's he doing?" Sakura wondered out loud.

"He's probably just making sure everything is alright at that area." Shino said calmly as the three continued on.

_**Meanwhile, a good distance back, closer to the village,**_

Shikamaru was tired and resting against a tree as he seemed to have lost his pursuers. "I finally managed to get away." He said out loud.

A few minutes later, eight Sound Village Ninja came into view and seemed to be followed tracks that were in the ground. "It looks like fatigue is starting to catch up with him." The leader of the group said with a chuckle. They started to move on but found that they could move.

"Oops, sorry to disappoint you guys but it looks like my diversion actually worked." Shikamaru said with a smile as he had captured all eight of them with his Shadow Possession Jutsu. "You're right on one thing, I am tired, but on everything else you're wrong." He held up a stick that was shaped like a paw print. "Like those dog prints, this is what I used to make them."

"What, he's just a kid." One of the men said. "I can't believe we fell for this."

"So this is the Leaf Village's Shadow Paralysis Jutsu we've heard so much about, huh?" The leader asked.

"Heh, yeah if you want to call it by that old name, old man." Shikamaru taunted as his shadow was fluctuating. Shikamaru then pulled out some shuriken to take them out with. _'One…two…three…four…five…six…seven…eight…wait a minute, eight?'_ He remembered that Pakkun had said that there was another behind the others. _'Of course, the ninth ones job is to help the team should it get caught in an ambush.'_ He held up eight shuriken to throw at the Sound Ninja. _'But this will draw out the final ninja and get him to reveal his location!'_ He threw all eight shuriken perfectly as they would've killed the enemy had a bunch of kunai not be thrown by the final ninja. _'There you are.'_ Shikamaru thought as he looked up at the tree where the kunai had come from. Another shadow string began to head for the tree but stopped and returned back. _'Shit, I don't have enough chakra.'_ He thought.

The leader of the Sound Ninja laughed. "It seems that you're running out of chakra and your jutsu is going to fail soon." He taunted. "I suggest you prepare yourself."

Shikamaru sighed as he looked up at the clouds and thought about how he had just wanted to be an average ninja, marry an average girl and have an average life. Instead he ended up sacrificing himself, which was not something he thought he'd ever be willing to do. _'Oh well, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.'_ He thought as his Shadow Possession Jutsu failed.

"Hey, you can come out now," the Sound Leader said to the hidden ninja, "and when you do, cut off his head!"

Shikamaru braced himself for the inevitable as the ninja came down behind him. There was a loud boom as the ninja landed as a bit of dust was kicked up. However, it wasn't a Sound Ninja that appeared: It was Asuma! He had his Trench Knives in each hand, a cigarette in his mouth and he held an unconscious Sound Ninja under his left arm.

"Well, I finally caught up with you guys." Asuma said with a smirk.

Shikamaru was shocked that his sensei had shown up. "Asuma, how did you…?" He started to asked before his sensei tossed the unconscious ninja aside and attacked the others. The Leaf Jonin made quick work of the Sound Ninja because they hadn't expected to run into anyone of his level.

After taking care of the last of the Sound Ninja, Asuma addressed his student. "You did well, Shikamaru."

Shikamaru then collapsed to the ground. "Yeah but it was way too much work!" He complained.

Asuma smiled at his student as he helped him back to his feet. "Let's get you back to the village, and then I'll go after the others." He said calmly. The two headed back to the Leaf Village, with Asuma pretty much carrying Shikamaru who was too tired or just too lazy at that point to do anything.

_**At the area where Sasuke and Temari had fought,**_

Naruto had just arrived and saw what Sasuke had done to Temari. It disgusted Naruto to see a cute girl like Temari be treated so badly by an asshole like Sasuke so he decided to help her out. He pulled out a kunai and cut the wire that was holding Temari to the tree.

Temari was barely conscious when Naruto arrived in the area. _'Oh, no, he's back already!'_ Temari thought because her eyes were blurry from the pain her body was in. She closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable.

Suddenly, she heard the wire being cut and her body being gently lowered to the ground. She opened her eyes and saw that it was actually Naruto who had come to her.

Naruto didn't know much about Medical Ninjutsu but, thanks to his restored intelligence, he knew enough to treat some of the wounds. _'I knew Sasuke was obsessed with restoring his clan and gaining power but I didn't think he'd take it this far.'_ Naruto thought as he worked. Temari soon recovered enough that she no longer needed Naruto's help. "I've fixed as much as I can but you'll still need to see an actual medic when this is all over with." Naruto told her as he pulled out a scroll. It was one of the storage scrolls Shark had taught him how to make and use. He summoned up a pair of black pants and a sleeveless light blue shirt for Temari to wear that he figured were closest to her size. "These might be a little tight but it's better than nothing." He said as he handed them over to Temari. Naruto turned his back on her so she could change in some modesty. _'I know this is a risk but I have a feeling that I can trust her enough not to do anything while my back is turned.'_ Naruto thought to himself as he closed his eyes and could hear Temari changing clothes. He smiled to himself as he could tell she also trusted him not to peek.

"Why?" Temari asked.

"Huh?" Naruto was confused by her question.

Temari glared at him as he turned to face her. "Why are you doing this?" She asked as she looked him in the eyes. "We're enemies right now and yet you're helping me."

Naruto looked her right in the eyes, not even once glancing downward. "I've never been very fond of Sasuke and what he was planning to do to you is not something I'd wish on my worst enemy." Naruto explained calmly.

Temari could see the loneliness that Naruto had experienced in the past in his blue eyes and could see how he was still a kind and caring person that most people weren't these days. She found herself blushing a little as she smiled. "I, uh, I need to go catch up with my brothers." Temari said hastily before leaping to the nearest tree and speeding away from the area.

Naruto was confused by Temari's actions but just shrugged it off and went to catch up with Sakura, Shino and Pakkun. _'I hope I didn't fall to far behind, otherwise I won't never catch up with them in time.'_ He thought as he headed off as well.

_**A few minutes later, deeper into the forest,**_

Sakura and Pakkun were trying to decide what to do. They had caught up with Sasuke, Kankuro and Gaara only for Temari to show up again wearing a tight outfit. After a brief exchange, Temari took Gaara and headed off. Shino decided to fight Kankuro since they never had their match at the battle arena, so Sasuke went off after Gaara and Temari, leaving Sakura and Pakkun behind.

"Hey, what're you guys waiting for?" Naruto asked as he caught up to Sakura and Pakkun.

Sakura explained the situation to Naruto. "So, any ideas on what we should do, Naruto?" She asked.

Naruto frowned. "Damn that jackass." He growled. "We need to go after Sasuke, that's our mission." Sakura and Pakkun nodded in agreement.

The three headed out together after Sasuke, Gaara and Temari. Tenzo was secretly following them as well. _'Things are going to be pretty interesting to say the least.'_ Tenzo thought as he stealthily followed the two Genin and the Ninja Hound.

_**A good ten minutes later,**_

Naruto, Sakura and Pakkun had finally caught up with Sasuke just in time to watch as Sasuke and the partially changed Gaara fought each other. Sasuke's Curse Mark had spread throughout his body while Sasuke was using his Chidori to attack Gaara. Unfortunately for Sasuke, his chakra was running low and the attack only made Gaara even angrier and wanting to kill Sasuke even more. Naruto realized what was going on as Sasuke collapsed on the tree branch he had landed on while Gaara got right back up and tried to attack Sasuke again. Naruto, moving as fast as he could, kicked Gaara in the head, causing him to fly backwards. "Sorry, Gaara, but that's enough of that." Naruto said calmly as he faced the One-Tailed Jinchuriki. "As much as I would love to let you finish Sasuke, my mission is to get him back to the village alive."

Gaara just growled as Naruto stood ready for their fight. Sakura picked Sasuke up even though he was arguing at he could finish this fight and didn't need any help. "Pakkun, find Temari and make sure she gets to safety." Naruto said as he pulled out a storage scroll. He then activated one of the seals and, in a puff of smoke, the sword Shark had given him as a gift appeared. "This is definitely an emergency and I'll need all the help I can get." He said as the blade started to glow.

Sasuke could see the power of that sword and he eyed it greedily. Sakura noticed this and narrowed her eyes at him. _'Oh, you had better not be thinking what I think you're thinking, you bastard!'_ Sakura thought angrily.

'_**If Sasuke so much as hurt on hair on Naruto's head I'm tear him apart!'**_ Inner Sakura shouted angrily. _**'I can't believe I ever liked that bastard!'**_

Naruto, knowing the secrets of the sword thanks to his training with Master Dragon, strapped it to his back so he could access the stored up chakra while he fought Gaara. "Let's get it on!" Naruto shouted as he leapt forward to engage Gaara in battle.

The partially transformed Jinchuriki took a deep breath with other mouths appearing on his body also sucking in air. _**"Wind Style: Sand Storm Devastation!"**_ Gaara shouted. All of the mouths released a gust of sandy wind that blew Naruto backwards.

Naruto landed on his feet on a branch. "Damn this isn't going to be easy." He said as more sand spread over Gaara's body, covering his arms and most of his face. "I better call in some help." He bit his right thumb. He slammed down his palm and shouted, _**"Summoning Jutsu!"**_ A puff of smoke appeared but instead of a large toad, two smaller toads appeared: one reddish orange and the other pudgy and yellow colored.

"**Hey Naruto, what's up?"** The reddish orange toad, Gamakichi, asked. He looked behind him and paled when he saw Gaara. **"Uh, don't you want pops for this one?"**

"**Hey, friend, how's it going? Do you have some snacks for me?"** The yellow one, Gamatatsu, asked clueless of the seriousness of the situation. Gamatatsu then went so far as to happily wave at Gaara.

"_**Wind Style: Sand Shuriken!"**_ Gaara shouted moving his arms in front of him as if he was throwing something. Tiny burst of sand flew through the air at Naruto and the two toads. Naruto grabbed the toads and tried to get out of the way.

He crashed into a nearby tree but got back up. "You two make sure Sakura and Sasuke get away from here." Naruto said before jumping to another branch to fight Gaara. _**"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"**_ he shouted. Five clones appeared with him on the branch. He then pulled out a kunai and wrapped a paper bomb around the handle. "Alright, Gaara, get ready for the ultimate secret Taijutsu: _**Clone Body Slam!**_" The five clones leapt into the air towards Gaara but were intercepted by his Sand arm. Naruto created another clone to pull him over the stopped clones and throw him at Gaara. He flew past Gaara but quickly recovered for this. "And another: _**Shadow Clone Jutsu!**_" A final Shadow Clone appeared underneath Naruto's feet, which he used as a platform to leap up to the large branch Gaara was standing on. "Take this! Straight from the teachings of Kakashi-Sensei! _**Leaf Village Secret Taijutsu: Thousand Years of Death!"**_ Instead of using a tiger seal, Naruto jammed the kunai into the area at the base of the tail.

Temari, Sakura, Gamakichi and Pakkun were all shocked by this. Temari and Sakura blushed while the summoned creatures were just embarrassed. Pakkun mumbled something about Naruto spending too much time with Kakashi before Naruto was knocked away by Gaara's sand tail. Just then the kunai exploded, damaging Gaara's form.

Naruto smirked as he landed on a nearby tree. "You like that!" Naruto shouted.

"You'll pay for that!" Gaara bellowed angrily.

"Try this on for size!" Naruto crossed his fingers and shouted. _**"Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!"**_ a puff of smoke filled the area and, once it had dispersed, the entire area was filling with Naruto Shadow Clones. "I hope you're ready because now it's time for me to introduce you to some of my own original jutsu!" Naruto shouted proudly. _**"Everywhere Shuriken!"**_ the clones shouted as they all started throwing shuriken at the still recovering Sand Jinchuriki.

'_I have to use the sand to defend!'_ Gaara thought as he brought his sand arms up to protect himself from the attack.

All of the clones then jumped out and began pounding Gaara with their fists, shouting, _**"Na…ru…to…2K…"**_ The clones emphasized the syllables as they knocked Gaara into the air. _**"…Uzumaki Barrage!"**_ All off the Naruto Clones pounded into Gaara's body with the fists at their same time. The last of the clones hit Gaara with a pair of uppercuts causing him to fall off the tree and crash to the ground bellow.

The many Naruto clones then followed Gaara down. "Now it's time for a barrage of four thousand kicks!" They shouted.

"There's no way…" Gaara said. "THERE'S NO WAY I'M GOING TO LOSE TO A GUY LIKE YOU!" He bellowed before completely releasing Shukaku, the sand spirit.

All of Naruto's clones were destroyed as Shukaku covered Gaara's entire body and grew to its true size. "This is not good!" Naruto said as he accessed more of the chakra from the Chakra Sword on his back.

"This ends now!" Gaara's voice said from the creature. A bunch of sand started to surround Naruto.

"It's now or never!" Naruto said as he wiped some blood from his chin onto his thumb. _**"Summoning Jutsu!"**_ he shouted as the sand surrounded him. The resulting explosion as he summoned a creature. The creature he had summoned was none other than Gamabunta, the Chief Toad himself. "Looks like it finally paid off." Naruto smirked.

"**What do you think you're doing summoning me here, you little squirt?"** Gamabunta asked in annoyance before looking over at Shukaku. **"Well, what do ya know, Shukaku the Sand Spirit, huh?"**

"So, you feel like helping me out here, boss?" Naruto asked with a smile, thinking he already knew the answer.

Gamabunta took a smoke from his pipe before answering. **"Take a hike."** He said to Naruto's disbelief.

"What?" Naruto shouted in shock. "You said I was your henchman and it's only natural that the boss would help out the henchman when he needs it!"

"**Sure I said I'd make you my henchman but we haven't even sealed the deal with a cup of sake yet."** Gamabunta explained.

"Oh come on, I'm not old enough to drink any alcohol!" Naruto complained.

Gamakichi and Gamatatsu jumped onto Gamabunta's head. **"Oh, come on, don't be like that pops."** Gamakichi said with a smile. **"Naruto's to a really cool kid once you get to know him."**

"**And just what do you two think you're doing here?"** Gamabunta asked his sons.

"**Well, we didn't have anything better to do so we figured we come to hang out."** Gamakichi replied.

"**Hey daddy, that sand thing was being mean to me and big brother for no reason at all."** Gamatatsu said pointing at the Shukaku.

"**Is that right?"** Gamabunta asked as he glared at the Shukaku.

"**Yes but Naruto protected us when it attacked us."** Gamatatsu stated with a smile at Naruto. Gamatatsu may not be the brightest toad in the world but he knew a meanie when he met one and the Shukaku was one big meanie.

Gamabunta thought it over before grabbing his sword. **"Alright, kid, you are here by accepted as my henchman."** He stated as he pulled out his sword. **"Hang on tight, small fry. This is going to be one hell of a fight."** The Chief Toad leapt straight at the Sand Spirit brandishing his sword. The blade of the sword caught the sand monster in the shoulder, where it is connected to the arm. **"How do you like this?"** Gamabunta asked as he forced his sword through.

Unfortunately, the strain caused Gamabunta to lose his grip on his sword. **"Damn, this guy is no joke. The sand's so thick I barely managed to make that cut."** Gamabunta mused. **"If I don't end this quickly, the landscapes gonna start changing around here…"**

"Hey chief, try to lure him over here, my teammates are over in that direction." Naruto informed him.

"**I'll do what I can, squirt."** Gamabunta said.

"Interesting…" Gaara's voice said from the creature. "Interesting! Not bad Naruto Uzumaki!"

Temari, who was watching the fight, realized what was going to happen. "Oh no, Gaara's really going to do it!" She said in horror. "I have to get out of here!" She took off running away from the battle.

Tenzo had arrived at the scene and was shocked by what he was seeing and decided to make his presence known. "Naruto!" Tenzo shouted as he landed on Gamabunta's head.

"Who are you?" Naruto asked curiously without taking his eyes off of Gaara, just in case he attacked.

Tenzo dropped to one knee, like he was reporting to a superior officer. "My name is Tenzo and Master Dragon sent me to offer my assistance in any way I can." He reported.

"I'm not sure you can be of much help here." Naruto said calmly as he watched Gaara activate the Play Possum Jutsu.

"I'm able to use Wood-Style Jutsu just like the First Hokage which allows me to repress and control the power of Tailed Beasts." Tenzo replied.

Naruto was surprised by that but right now it would definitely come in handy. "Do what you can but let me and the chief toad handle this." He said sternly. Tenzo nodded and jumped down as the two giant creatures began their battle.

"**Yeah, I'm finally free!"** The Shukaku shouted happily. **"Here I come, baby!"**

"**Man that is one funky demon."** Gamakichi commented.

"**Hang on tight, you three."** Gamabunta said sternly as he got ready for the fight.

"_**Wind Style: Air Bullet!"**_ Shukaku shouted as it used its remaining arm to hit its belly and released a blast of wind.

Gamabunta jumped into the air, dodging the attack. _**"Water Style: Liquid Bullet!"**_ He shouted, fired a massive ball of water at the Shukaku.

The Sand Monster easily dodged it by jumping backwards. **"You missed!"** It taunted. The creature then fired off three Wind Bullets.

Gamabunta countered with two Liquid Bullets but the third managed to hit him. Fortunately, he was able to withstand the attack. **"Now that kind of hurt!"** Gamabunta stated. **"Hit me with a few more of those and even I won't last very long."**

"This is bad, what do you think we should do, chief?" Naruto asked.

"**Well, the best thing for us to do would be to try to wake up that boy, sticking out of the Shukaku's head."** Gamabunta replied.

"Okay, I'll try to throw a few rounds at him." Naruto said as he got ready.

Gamabunta got up close to the Sand monster and grabbed hold of him. **"Now's your chance!"** He shouted, only for Shukaku to shake free before Naruto could attack Gaara.

"You're to have to hold onto him longer than that if you want me to get a shot in, chief." Naruto yelled as Gamabunta jumped away to avoid being attacked at close range.

"**Damn, he's a lot slipperier than I thought he'd be."** Gamabunta countered. **"And since I don't have any claws or horns to dig into the enemy with, this'll be a lot harder."**

"So, what do you think we should do?" Naruto asked.

"**The best thing to do would be for us the change into something that has what he need."** Gamabunta replied.

"Huh?" Naruto asked in confusion.

"**We'll have to do a combined transformation."** Gamabunta explained. **"You and I will combine our chakra together and transform into something that we can use."**

"Uh, okay, I guess." Naruto said unsure as he made the hand sign.

"**Think of something with fangs and claws!"** Gamabunta said as he got ready. **"Here we go!"**

Naruto was a little surprised by how soon they were going to transform but was able to think of some that had just what they needed. _**"TRANSFORMATION JUTSU!"**_ shouted Naruto.

A huge cloud of smoke covered the area, surrounding Naruto and Gamabunta. Shukaku was a little curious about what was going on when an orange furred paw/arm shot out of the smoke. Tenzo was shocked by what he was seeing as the smoke cleared. Naruto and Gamabunta had transformed into none other than the Nine-Tailed Fox!

Sakura and Sasuke were nearby with Sakura trying to get Sasuke to return to the village and saw the giant fox. _'That's the-?'_ the two Leaf Genin thought in shock as they watched the battle continue.

Sakura soon shook it off. "We need to keep going." She said trying to get Sasuke back to the Leaf Village.

Sasuke however wasn't listening to her, he was watching at the fake Nine-Tailed Fox began fighting the Shukaku. _'How is that idiot able to do that?'_ He wondered angrily. _'I was easily beaten by that Sand Freak and yet, Naruto is able to keep fighting him at an even higher level that I was!'_

The two giant beasts attacked each other, the fox using its speed and agility to dodge the Air Bullets released from Shukaku's mouth. Unfortunately, since the Fox isn't the real deal its power was nowhere near as great as the Shukaku, whose power seem to be increasing as the battle went on. **"This is not good, his power just keeps increasing."** Gamabunta's voice said from the fox's mouth.

"Come on, he just needs a good smack to the head!" Naruto countered.

The fox then grabbed some fallen trees with its tails before leaping into the air again. _**"Air Bullet!"**_ The Shukaku shouted. The Fox transformation threw the trees in the path of the wind, blocking the attack.

The Sand spirit was surprised by this and was even more surprised when the fox came through the smoke to attack it. The fox bite down on it and grabbed hold with its claws. **"Okay kid, you're on!"** Gamabunta shouted.

The transformation jutsu broke turning the two back into their normal forms with Gamabunta up against the Shukaku and Naruto flying through the air at Gaara's unconscious form. "Rise and shine!" Naruto shouted before he punched Gaara in the face, causing the Sand Jinchuriki to wake up.

"**Good, not much time has passed since the jutsu was cast so that one shot should have done the trick."** Gamabunta said as Gaara started to open his eyes.

"**Oh, give me a break I just got here!"** The Shukaku whined as it's eyes when dark showing that it was no longer in control.

Gaara glared angrily at Naruto who was still on top of the Shukaku's head, trying to attack Gaara again. _'He disrupted my jutsu!'_ Gaara thought angrily as he took control of the Shukaku's body of sand. The sand beneath Naruto's feet became soft and causing him to stop as more sand rushed towards him. _**"Sand Coffin!"**_ Gaara shouted.

"**Help him, pops!"** Gamakichi shouted.

"**I got him."** Gamabunta said as he used his tongue to surround Naruto and shield him from the sand.

"The chief's tongue is surrounding me." Naruto said in relief and surprise.

"YOU THINK I'M A FOOL!" Gaara shouted angrily as he used his power over sand to cause the sand under Naruto's feet to start to climb up Naruto's body.

"This isn't good." Naruto said as Gamabunta retracted his tongue.

The Shukaku's body then started to push against the Chief Toad, causing him to move backwards. **"Damn, this guy still has a lot of fight left in him."** The Chief Toad commented as he struggled against the sand monster. "Naruto and I have used up all of our chakra."

Naruto closed his eyes trying to think up a way to defeat Gaara and was about to draw on the chakra stored into Chakra Sword when he remembered his friends were still in the area, so he decided to use the fox's chakra. _'Okay you stinking fox, if you're there, give me your strength!'_ Naruto shouted in his mind, causing the Fox to listen and give Naruto some of its chakra.

The red chakra erupted from Naruto's body, healing some of his wounds, restoring his strength and freeing him from the sand. Tenzo was a little surprised as Naruto was in control of the chakra but quickly brushed it off since Naruto was being trained by Jiraiya of the Sannin and Shark Dragon the Dragon Master. If those two trusted Naruto to use the Fox's power then he wasn't about to question them.

"This is it!" Naruto shouted as he leapt forward to attack Gaara again but was caught in the air by the sand just before he hit Gaara. Naruto struggled to get free from the sand. "I…I'VE HAD IT WITH YOU!" He shouted before slamming his forehead against Gaara's with such force that it broke the skin of both their foreheads and made a dent into the area of Shukaku that Gaara was sticking out of.

"Now that was a head-butt." Tenzo commented as the body of the Shukaku started to crack apart and crumble back into sand.

"**A plain old head-butt, huh, well he may not be the most elegant fighter I've met but he is definitely the biggest knucklehead."** Gamabunta commented as well. **"Wish I could stick around, but I'm completely out of chakra. Gamakichi, Gamatatsu, it's time to go home."**

"**You got it, pops."** Gamakichi said with a smile.

"**Whatever you say, daddy,"** Gamatatsu added. The three summoned toads then disappeared in a huge puff of smoke, causing the falling Gaara and Naruto to be blown into nearby trees.

The two Genin were exhausted from their long fight but neither of them was willing to give up. The two got up on their feet and squared off across from each other. The two leapt into the air at the same time to attack each other, fortunately, Naruto had a bit more strength left in him so he was able to punch Gaara in the face with an even greater force that Gaara could muster.

The two Jinchuriki fell to the ground below, completely exhausted and out of strength. Tenzo smiled under his mask as he could see why Master Dragon had said to let Naruto handle things. _'If this is what Naruto is capable of doing now, I can't wait to see what he is like after Master Dragon is done training him.'_ He thought as he followed after the two boys.

_**A little later,**_

Temari had found her other brother, Kankuro, and the two were heading for where Gaara had been fighting Naruto. They both arrived just in time to finish hearing Naruto explain to Gaara how they were a lot alike but that Naruto wouldn't let that stop him from killing Gaara if he threatened his friends and those he cares about. Gaara was realizing that it was because of Naruto's friends that Naruto had been strong enough to beat him. The two landed in between Naruto and Gaara, not sure what to do. "Temari, Kankuro, that's enough." Gaara said weakly to keep his siblings from attacking Naruto.

Temari could see that Naruto and Gaara were hurt badly. "Kankuro, get Gaara out of here." She said calmly as she went over to Naruto.

"What are going to do?" Kankuro asked worried about his sister.

"I'm staying." Temari said as she started giving Naruto basic medical treatment. "I owe Naruto that much."

"But you'll be captured!" Kankuro tried to argue.

"I know." Temari said in a tone that made Kankuro realize she wasn't going to change her mind.

"Alright." Kankuro said reluctantly as he lifted Gaara up to his feet. "Just try and take care of yourself, Temari."

"You too." Temari said before Kankuro and Gaara left.

Naruto was barely conscious but he had heard everything that was said between the Sand Siblings. "You…should go…with them." He said weakly.

Temari smiled kindly at him. "I owe you for saving me earlier and this is the best way that I can think of." She stated.

Just then, Sasuke, Sakura and Pakkun landed nearby. Sakura hesitated for a second but realized that Temari was helping Naruto and went to help her. Sasuke just glared at Naruto but noticed that his sword wasn't on his back anymore. "You did a good job, Naruto." Sakura said kindly as she helped Temari.

"Thanks…" Naruto said with a small smile.

Sasuke was too busy looking around for Naruto's sword to care about anything else. _'I need that sword.'_ He thought arrogantly. _'I will have its power for myself. The sword is wasted in the hands of that loser. I am an Uchiha, one of the Elite, and I deserve its power more than that loser.'_ Sasuke then spotted the sword lying on the ground by a tree. _'It's all mine now!'_ He thought arrogantly as he rushed forward to take the sword.

Just as Sasuke was about to grab the sword, a piece of wood shot out from a nearby tree and knocked Sasuke away from the sword. Sasuke angrily got back up only for him to come face-to-face with a member of the ANBU Black Ops. "That sword belongs to Naruto Uzumaki." Tenzo growled angrily at Sasuke, knowing full well what Sasuke was planning to do.

Sasuke grumbled but didn't make a move to take the sword as Tenzo picked it up and walked over to Naruto, Sakura and Temari. "That should be good enough to move him to the village." Sakura said calmly as she and Temari finished patching Naruto up.

"Good job, Sakura." Tenzo said as he approached them. He looked directly at Sakura. "Help Naruto get back to the Leaf Village and have the medics look him over." Temari was about to assist Sakura when a thick piece of wood wrapped itself around her body restraining her. "I'm sorry but, until the battle complete ends, you are still considered an enemy Shinobi and must be taken in."

"I understand." Temari said sadly.

Naruto looked a little sad that his new friend was being treated so badly but didn't have the strength to argue at that moment. "Let's get you guys back to the Leaf Village." Tenzo said calmly as he created a Wood Clone. The Wood Clone attached its arm to Temari's restraints while Tenzo assisted Sakura with Naruto.

Sasuke had just ignored the four and started making his way back to the Leaf Village not really caring about anyone but himself. _'I need to tell those old prunes about that sword Naruto has so they can get it for me.'_ He thought arrogantly. Even since his clan had been wiped out by Itachi, the civilian council members and the Village Elders have been giving him everything he wanted to help him get stronger. All it took was Sasuke saying he wanted something and they would do everything within their power to get it for him.

Little did Sasuke know but the Leaf Village was about to undergo some major changes once the invasion had finally ended.

**To Be Continued…**


End file.
